The Acts of the Apostles 

AN EXPOSITION 



Al C. Gaebelein 



Editor of ''Our Hope;" Author of "Harmony of the 
Prophetic Word; " Exposition of Matthew ; " 
"Joel; 1 ' "Daniel ;" 



Publication Office "Our Hope" 
456 Fourth Avenue 
New York City 



Copyright 1912, by <A. C. Gaebekin. 



Printing by 
Francis Emory Fitch, Inc. 
47 Broad St., N.Y. 



A<n> 

.A332114 



Contents 



Pag* 

Introduction 5 

Chapter I 13 

II 28 

III 69 

IV 86 

V 101 

VI 117 

VII 125 

VIII 140 

IX 161 

X 192 

XI 210 

XII 218 

XIII 229 

XIV 249 

XV 257 

XVI 276 

XVII 295 

XVIII 310 

XIX 323 

XX 340 

XXI 356 

XXII 372 

XXIII 380 

XXIV 389 

" XXV 396 

" XXVI 402 

" XXVII , 410 

" XXVIII 420 



FOREWORD. 



Judaism and Christianity; Legalism and Grace; the 
Kingdom and the Church; these are in contrast, at poles 
apart, and defy all attempts at reconciliation. Ishmael — 
"the wild-ass man" — untamed and untamable, the son of 
the bond woman, is unalterably opposed to Isaac — "laugh- 
ter" — spontaneous and obedient, the son of the free 
woman. 

These distinctions, known and observed, are of incal- 
culable worth in Bible Study. 

In The Book of the Acts there is revealed the pass- 
ing of Judaism, and the incoming of Christianity: wherein 
we see how the old wine-skins of legalism are without 
strength to restrain the expansive spirit of the new wine 
of grace. This Book of the Acts, showing as it does the 
transition of Judaism to Christianity, is, therefore, of ab- 
sorbing interest; and Mr. Gaebelein, whose oral teaching 
is so abundantly owned and blessed of God, has, in this 
volume of interpretative study, extended the sphere of 
his ministry to multitudes that may never come within 
range of the hearing of his voice. 



The author's breadth of conception of God's plan of the 
Ages stamps the book with a peculiar value; while, at the 
same time, there is of the spiritual application of truth a 
thorough and clear perception that pervades and illumines 
the exposition of the text. 

From the study of this book, so untrammeled by the 
yoke of traditional interpretation, so far removed from 
the feverish discontent with the supernatural, so different 
from the cold and critical analysis of the casuist, so rever- 
ent, and so unalterably loyal to the plenary inspiration of 
the Scripture, one rises in spirit refreshed, in faith strength- 
ened, and to new endeavor encouraged. It is a pleasure 
and a privilege to commend this book. 

FORD C. OTTMAN, 

Stamford, Conn. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The book known by the name " The Acts of the Apostles "* 
follows the four Gospel records. This is its proper place. 
The books of the New Testament have been correctly di- 
vided into five sections, corresponding to the first five books, 
with which the Bible begins, that is the Pentateuch. The 
four Gospels are the Genesis of the New Testament. Here 
we have the great beginning, the foundation upon which the 
subsequently revealed christian doctrines rest. The Book 
of Acts is the Exodus, God leads out from bondage a heavenly 
people and delivers them. It is the great historical book 
of the New Testament describing the beginning of the church 
on earth. The Pauline Epistles are the Leviticus portion. 
Holiness unto the Lord, the believers separation and standing 
in Christ, what believers have and are in Christ by whose 
blood they have redemption, is the core truth of these 
Epistles. The Epistles of Peter, James, John and Jude, 
known by the name of the Catholic Epistles, are for the 
wilderness journey of God's people, telling us of trials and 
suffering; these correspond to the Book of Numbers. The 
Book of Revelation in which God's ways are rehearsed and 
a review is given of the entire prophetic Word concerning 
the Jews, the Gentiles and the Church of God has the same 
character as Deuteronomy. 

By whom was this Book written? There is no doubt that 
the writer of the third Gospel record is the one whom the 

*The oldest Manuscript, the Sinaiticus dating from the 4th cen- 
tury gives the title simply as " The Acts," which is, no doubt, the 
better name for the book. 



6 



Holy Spirit selected to write this account of the establish- 
ment of the Church on earth and the events ccnnected 
with it. This becomes clear if we read the beginning of 
that Gospel and compare it with the beginning of Acts. 
The writer in the third Gospel says: " It seemed good to me 
also, having had perfect understanding of all things from 
the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent The- 
ophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those 
things, wherein thou hast been instructed" (Luke i:3-4). 
The Acts of the Apostles begin: "The former treatise have 
I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do 
and teach." The former treatise known to Theophilus 
is the third Gospel, called the Gospel of Luke. The writer 
of that Gospel is also the penman of the Book of Acts. 
Though we do not find Luke's name mentioned in the Gos- 
pel nor in the second Book he was entrusted to write, there 
is no doubt that he wrote them both. We find his name 
mentioned a number of times in the Epistles and these 
references give us the only reliable information we have. 
In Colossians iv:14 we read of him as " the beloved physi- 
cian." In the Epistle of Philemon he is called a fellow 
laborer of the Apostle Paul, and from the last Epistle the 
great Apostle wrote, the Second Epistle of Timothy, we 
learn that Luke was in Rome with Paul and was faithful 
to him, while others had forsaken the prisoner of the Lord. 
From Colossians iv we also may gather that he was not a 
Jew, but a Gentile, for with the eleventh verse Paul had 
mentioned those of the circumcision. Epaphras was one 
of the Colossians, a Gentile, and then follow the names of 
Luke and Demas, both of them undoubtedly Gentiles. The 
reason that the Holy Spirit selected a Gentile to write the 
Gospel which pictures our Lord as the Man and the Savior 
and the Book of Acts, is as obvious as it is interesting. Is- 
rael had rejected God's gift and the glad news of salvation 
is now to go to the Gentiles. The Gospel of Luke addressed 



7 



by a Gentile to a Gentile (Theophilus) is the Gospel for the 
Gentiles and Luke the Gentile was chosen to give the his- 
tory of the Gospel going forth from Jerusalem to the Gen- 
tiles. 

There are numerous internal evidences which show like- 
wise that the writer of the third Gospel is the instrument 
through whom the Book of Acts was given. For instance, 
there are about fifty peculiar phrases and words in both 
books which are rarely found elsewhere; they prove the 
same author for those two books. 

Then we learn from the Book of Acts that Luke, the be- 
loved physician, was an eyewitness of some of the events re- 
corded by him in this book. He joined the Apostle during 
his second missionary journey at Troas (chapt. xiv:10). 
This evidence is found in the little word " we." The writer 
was now in company of the Apostle, whose fellow laborer 
he was. He went with Paul to Macedonia and remained 
sometime in Philippi. He was Paul's fellow traveler to 
Asia and Jerusalem (ch. xxi:17). He likewise was with him 
in his imprisonment in Caesarea and then on to Rome. 
There is no doubt that Luke had completely written and 
sent forth the Book of the Acts of the Apostles at the end 
of the two years mentioned in Acts xxviii:30, though the 
critics claim a much later period. 

The contents and scope of the Book. The first verse 
gives us an important hint. The former treatise, the Gospel 
of Luke, tells " that Jesus began to do and teach." The 
Book of Acts contains therefore the continuation of the 
Lord's actions no longer on earth but from the Glory. The 
actions of the risen and glorified Christ can easily be traced 
throughout the entire book. We give a few illustrations. In 
Chapter I He acts in the selection of the twelfth Apostle^ 
who was to take the place of Judas. In Chapter II He 
himself poured forth the Holy Spirit, for Peter made th$ 



8 

declaration :" therefore, being by the right hand of God 
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of 
the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which ye behold 
and hear." And in the close of the second chapter we 
behold another action of the risen Lord: "the Lord added 
to the assembly daily those that were to be saved." In 
the third chapter He manifested His power in the healing 
of the lame man. Throughout this book we behold Him 
acting from the Glory, guiding, directing, comforting and 
encouraging His servants. These beautiful and manifold 
evidences of Himself being with His own and manifesting 
His power in their behalf we hope to trace in our exposition 
of the different chapters. 

Then on the very threshold of the book we have the 
historical account of the coming of that other Comforter, 
whom the Lord had promised, the Holy Spirit. On the 
day of Pentecost the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy 
Spirit, came. His coming marks the birthday of the Church. 
After that event we see Him present with and in His 
people. In connection with the Lord's servants, in filling 
them, guiding them, fitting them, sustaining them in trials 
and persecutions as well as in the affairs of the church, we 
behold the actions of the Holy Spirit on earth. He is the 
great administrator in the church. Over fifty times we 
find Him mentioned, so that some have called this book 
" the Acts of the Holy Spirit." While we have no doctrines 
about the Holy Spirit and His work in the Acts of the 
Apostles, we find here the practical illustrations of the 
doctrine found elsewhere in the New Testament. 

In the third place another supernatural Being is seen 
acting in this book. It is the enemy, Satan, the hinderer 
and the accuser of the brethren. We behold him coming 
upon the scene and acting through his different instruments 
either as the roaring lion or as the cunning deceiver with 
his wiles. Wherever he can, he attempts to hinder the 



9 



progress of the Gospel. This is a most important aspect 
of this book and indeed very instructive. Aside from 
the human instruments prominent in this Book of Acts, 
we behold three supernatural Beings acting. The risen, 
glorified Christ, the Holy Spirit and Satan. 

Another hint about the contents of this book and its 
scope we find at the close of the Gospel of Luke. There 
the risen Christ said: "that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in His Name to all the nations begin- 
ning at Jerusalem." In the first chapter of Acts the Spirit 
of God reports the commission of the Lord, about to as- 
cend, in full. " Ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusa- 
lem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the 
earth." The Book of Acts shows us how this mission be- 
ginning in Jerusalem was carried out. The witness begins 
in the city where our Lord was crucified. Once more 
an offer was made to the nation Israel. Then we behold 
the Gospel going forth from Jerusalem and all Judea tc 
Samaria and after that to the Gentiles, and through the 
chosen Apostle of the Gentiles it is heralded in the different 
countries of the Roman empire. The parable of our Lord 
in Matthew xxii:l-10 gives us prophetically the history 
of these events. First the guests were called to the wedding 
and they would not come. This was the invitation given 
by the Lord to His earthly people when He moved among 
them. They received Him not. Then came a renewed 
offer with the assurance that all things are ready. This 
is exactly what we find in the beginning of the Book of 
Acts. Once more to Jerusalem and to the Jewish na- 
tion is offered the kingdom, and signs and miracles take 
place to show that Jesus is the Christ risen from the dead. 
In the above parable our Lord predicted what the people 
would do with the servants, who bring the second offer. 
They would ignore the message and treat the servants spite- 
fully and kill them. This we find "ulfilled in the persecu- 



10 



tion which broke out in Jerusalem, when Apostles were 
imprisoned and others were killed. The Lord also pre- 
dicted in His parable the fate of the wicked city. It was 
to be burned. Thus it happened with Jerusalem. And 
after the second offer had been rejected the servants were to 
go to the highways to invite the guests. And this stands 
for the invitation to go out to the Gentiles. 

Jerusalem is in the foreground of this book, for the be- 
ginning was to be in Jerusalem " to the Jew first." The 
end of the book takes us to Rome and we see the great 
Apostle a prisoner there, a most significant, prophetic 
circumstance. 

The division of the Book. The division of the Book of 
the Acts is very simple. We divide it into three parts. 

I. Chapters I-VII. These chapters give us the his- 
torical account of the beginning in Jerusalem, the renewed 
testimony to the nation concerning Jesus as the Christ and 
the Kingdom. The seventh chapter, the storing of Ste- 
phen, closes that testimony. 

II. Chapters VIII-XII. These chapters mark a tran- 
sition period. The Gospel goes forth to Samaria. Saul of 
Tarsus sees the Lord and is converted. Peter goes and 
preaches the Gospel to the Gentiles. Peter is cast into 
prison and miraculously delivered. 

In these two parts Peter is in the foreground. He does 
most of the preaching and acting. He used the Keys of the 
Kingdom of Heaven in the second chapter by preaching to 
the Jews and in the tenth chapter by preaching to the Gen- 
tiles. 

III. Chapters XIII-XVIII. These chapters contain the 
inspired accounts of the travels and labors of the Apostle 
Paul, the proclamation of the Gospel in the different lands 
and the events and circumstances connected with it. His 



11 



journey to Rome and abode there closes the book. An- 
other division as given by Bengel in his Gnomen is also 
good. 

I. Pentecost, with preceding events. Ch. I, II. 

II. Acts in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria among 
the circumcised. Ch. III-IX, XII. 

III. Acts in Caesarea and admission of Gentiles. Ch. X, XI. 

IV. First Journey among the Gentiles. Ch. XIII, XIV. 

V. The deputation and council in Jerusalem. Ch. XV. 

VI. Second Journey of Paul. XVI-XIX. 

VII. ' Journey to Jerusalem and Rome. XIX:21-XXVIII. 

In closing these brief introductory remarks to this great 
book we' wish to say that the careful study of its contents 
is very needful at the present time. It will take us back 
to the beginning and show us the path which the Lord 
has marked out for His' church on earth. In the light of 
this book we shall discover the dark picture of the present 
day confusion and departure from God and from His Word. 
There is much comfort and direction for the faithful remnant 
of God's people living in our days in this book. There is 
much earnest exhortation to greater faithfulness, to' more 
holy boldness in preaching the Gospel and standing up for the 
faith, which comes to us from this book. Most blessed it is 
to follow the Holy Spirit in His work in, upon and with 
the believer. With the gracious help of our Lord and the 
help of His Spirit we hope to touch upon all these blessed 
phases, and we are confident that He will make the closer 
study of the Acts of the Apostles a blessing to our readers 
as well as to the writer. 



13 



CHAPTER I. 

The opening chapter of this book gives the events which 
preceded the great day of Pentecost. However, of the 
many things which must have transpired in Jerusalem 
during the fifty days between the resurrection day and the 
outpouring of the Holy Spirit not all are mentioned in this 
chapter. Here, as in the great historical books of the 
Old Testament and in the Gospels, only certain events are 
reported while others are passed over. Not man but God 
by His Spirit arranged the matter to give us more than a 
mere historical account of what took place. As the Book of 
Exodus in its history foreshadows spiritual and dispen- 
sational truths, so, as we shall find, does this New Testament 
Exodus book teach spiritual and dispensational lessons. 

The events preceding Pentecost written in this first 
chapter are: 

I. An account of events preceding the ascension of 
the Lord, the ascension itself and the message of His per- 
sonal, visible and glorious return. Verses 1-11. 

II. The waiting company in prayer. Matthias added 
to the Apostles in the place of Judas. Verses 12-26. 

I. Verses 1-3. The first three verses of the chapter 
form the introduction. 

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that 
Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was 
taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given com- 
mandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: to whom also 
he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, 
being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things per« 
taming to the kingdom of God; 



14 



As shown in the introduction the first verse proves that 
Luke, the beloved physician, the writer of the Gospel of 
Luke, was the chosen instrument to write the Book of Acts. 
Theophilus (Friend of God) is as prominent in the beginning 
of the Acts as he is in the Gospel of Luke, where he is ad- 
dressed as " most excellent." From a reliable source dating 
back to the second century we learn that he was an influ- 
ential and wealthy man residing in the city of Antioch. 
He dedicated his magnificent palace, called a Basilica, to 
the preaching of the Gospel. Luke came most likely also 
from Antioch. He may have belonged to the household 
of Theophilus. It is not unlikely that Luke had received 
great kindness from Theophilus; some claim that he used 
to be a slave and became through Theophilus a free man. 
That both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are 
addressed to Theophilus does not mean that these discourses 
(the word used in the original) were meant for Theophilus 
alone. Luke addressed Theophilus as a prominent man, 
a responsible person, whose name bespeaks close walk with 
God, and through him to that assembly to which Theophilus 
belonged, and in a larger sense to all the Gentile-Christian 
churches. 

According to the address to Theophilus we have in the 
Gospel of Luke the beginning of what Christ did and taught 
and therefore in Acts a continuation of these. He began on 
earth and now the scene is changed. He is the Man in 
Glory and from there He continues His work. 

It is beautiful to see how the Lord Jesus is brought to our 
view in these few sentences with which this book opens. 
How this manifests the One who guided the pen of the beloved 
physician, that is the Holy Spirit. Seven things are men- 
tioned concerning our Lord. 1. His earthly life of doing 
and teaching. 2. He charged His Apostles by the Holy 
Spirit. 3. He was taken up. 4. He had suffered. 5. Pre- 
sented Himself living with many proofs. 6. He was seen 



15 



by them for forty days. 7. He spoke of the things which 
concern the Kingdom of God. What an array of wonderful 
facts we find in these few sentences! The fact of His resur- 
rection after His passion is the leading feature of the pas- 
sage. It must be necessarily so for His resurrection is the 
great foundation upon which the Gospel and the Church 
rests. He presented Himself living with many proofs and 
was seen by them for forty days. It is only here in this 
passage that the period of time during which He manifested 
Himself is mentioned. And during that time the " many 
proofs " were given. He appeared in their midst; He 
walked with them, ate with them, they touched His body, 
His hands and feet, and they found He was not an appa- 
rition, but had a body of flesh and bones. Blessed fact, He 
presented Himself living, He is the living One! That He 
thus showed Himself with many proofs is beyond contro- 
versy. But these forty days are likewise shrouded in mys- 
tery. It is easy to make fanciful applications of these forty 
days and to teach unscriptural doctrines by such applications. 
For instance, a widespread evil system which denies some 
of the fundamentals of the faith, holds that the Lord is now 
present on the earth as He was present for forty days after 
His resurrection. According to this teaching (Russellism 
or Millennial Dawn) He came in a secret manner in 1874 
and is to remain here for forty years, when He will reveal 
Himself. Such teaching, if it can be called that, lacks all 
scriptural support. During these forty days, a number 
which stands for testing, He not only showed Himself, but 
also spoke of the things which concern the Kingdom of God. 
The words He gave them at these occasions, the instructions 
they received from His lips are not reported to us. 

The verses which follow describe the farewell meeting, 
His last words to His disciples, the ascension of the Lord, 
and the promise of His return to earth. 



16 



And, being assembled together with them, commanded them 
that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the 
promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. For 
John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with 
the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore 
were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou 
at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said 
unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which 
the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, 
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be 
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in 
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when 
he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; 
and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they 
looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two 
men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men 
of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, 
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like . 
manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Verses 4-11.) 

This occurred ten days before the day of Pentecost. Their 
place was to be in Jerusalem and to wait in that city for the 
promise of the Father, which they had heard from His lips. 
He had given them this promise, when He talked to them 
before His death, as written in the Gospel of John. The 
same command to remain in the city is found at the close 
of the Gospel of Luke as well as the fact that the promise of 
the Father was soon to be fulfilled. Then He refers to John 
and his baptism with water, that they were to be bap- 
tized with the Holy Spirit; the " fire " of which John spoke 
(Matthew iii:12) the Lord does not mention, because the 
baptizing with fire does not refer to the day of Pentecost, 
but to the time when: "He shall gather His wheat into the 
garner and burn the chaff with fire unquenchable; 99 that 
is, His second coming. He announced once more the " other 
Comforter " who was to come to be with them and in them. 
All this we shall follow in detail when we come to the great 
second chapter in our study of the outpouring of the Holy 
Spirit. Here we only wish to add that the waiting of the 



17 



disciples for the promise of the Father remaining in Jerusa- 
lem for ten days cannot be repeated now. Often people, 
well meaning and spiritually-minded, have appointed 
meetings for days of waiting and prayer that " the promise 
of the Father " might be given to them. Such expectations 
are out of order. The Father has kept His promise, the Holy 
Spirit has come. To ask the Father now to keep His promise 
amounts to the same thing as to ask God to make peace 
by the death of Christ. Peace has been made; the Holy 
Spirit has been given. 

And now we hear the assembled disciples addressing the 
Lord. What blessed intercourse they had with Him! He 
spoke to them in all His former tenderness and sympathy 
and they could ask Him their questions. And so He is still 
accessible for His own who draw dear to Him. "Lord, is it 
at this time that Thou restorest the kingdom to Israel?" 
This was their question, and a very natural question it was 
for them to ask. They were still Jews and knew only the 
earthly kingdom as their hope. He had risen from the dead 
and to their minds this must be the time in which the king- 
dom is restored to Israel. 

Frequently the inquiry of these men who had believed 
in Jesus and followed Him is declared to have been prompted 
by ignorance and selfishness. They were, so it is said, still 
expecting an earthly kingdom, to be established in the land 
with Jerusalem as the center; they were not yet delivered 
from their Jewish ideas. Others tell us that at the time they 
asked this question, they were ignorant of the true meaning 
of the kingdom. According to these interpreters the king- 
dom is the New Testament Church; the Holy Spirit swept 
away these earthly kingdom expectations. Such and similar 
reasons have been given to explain the question of the dis- 
ciples. 

It has occurred to but a few that this question was per- 
fectly in order for them as Jews, which they were still, and 



18 



did not emanate from ignorance, but was asked by reason 
of their superior knowledge of God's purposes as revealed 
in the Old Testament, a knowledge which is so sadly lacking 
in the present-day professing church. 

The Lord does not rebuke their supposed ignorance nor 
does He tell them that they were mistaken. " And He said 
unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, 
which the Father hath placed in His own authority." This 
answer approves the subject of their question. The King- 
dom is to be restored, the times and the seasons were not then 
to be revealed, for the Father hath put these in His own 
power. 

And this answer is most instructive. In connection with 
the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, the establishment 
of the theocratic kingdom on earth, as promised by God's 
holy prophets, times and seasons are expressly stated, and 
the declaration was made that at the time of the end, pre- 
ceding the coming of the kingdom, the wise should under- 
stand (Daniel xii:10). But the Lord does not here, as He 
did in His Olivet discourse, direct their attention to Daniel. 
" For you it is not to know the times or the seasons." A bet- 
ter hope, a heavenly hope was to be theirs, and in connection 
with that blessed hope of the Coming of the Lord for His 
Saints to bring them not to Palestine and given them an 
earthly kingdom, but into the Father's House in Glory, there 
are no " times or seasons " revealed. For His Saints He may 
come at any time. These disciples were soon to be formed 
into the one body, the church, by the Baptism of the Holy 
Spirit. The Lord anticipating this gave them this answer. 
It pointed them away from the earthly Hope of the King- 
dom. Others in the future, Jewish disciples once more, a 
faithful remnant of Israelites, called after the completed 
church has left this earthly scene, will surely know the times 
and the seasons which the Father has put in His own au- 
thority. 



19 



Once more He announces their great mission, and that 
before they could be such witnesses they were to receive 
power by the Coming of the Holy Spirit upon them. Such 
was the case on the day of Pentecost as we shall find when 
we reach the events of that day. 

One verse only gives us the account of the ascension of 
our Lord, His Return to the Father. He was taken up, 
they beholding, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 
What a spectacle this must have been! He in whom they 
had believed, in whose company they had been, to whose 
loving, tender words they had listened, whom they had for- 
saken when the hour of His suffering had come; He who 
had died on a cross, reckoned among the evil-doers, who had 
rested in a tomb and was raised from the dead by the power 
of God; He who had been with them in a glorified human 
body and manifested Himself in His resurrection glory and 
power during the forty days was now taken up, " received 
into Glory." Gradually He must have been lifted out of 
their midst. Lovingly His eyes must have rested upon them 
while their eyes beheld only Him. Now He is lifted higher 
and still they behold Him in human form. And then a cloud 
received Him out of their sight. The Greek verb used is 
" to take in; " so that it reads literally, " And then a cloud 
took Him in out of their sight." This cloud surrounded 
Him, and the last they saw of Him was that He disappeared 
from their view in this human glorified body in a cloud. 

And that cloud was not a cloud of vapor. It was the same 
cloud which had appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration, 
the Shekinah. It was the same cloud of glory which had 
filled Solomon's temple, which so often in Israel's past his- 
tory had appeared as the outward sign of Jehovah's presence 
with his people. The Glory-cloud came to take Him in, to 
bring Him back to the Father from whence He had come. 
What human tongue or pen can picture what took place 
after He had disappeared from human vision! The Shek- 



20 



inah cloud had come to meet Him and where that Glory 
began sight ceases and faith begins. What must it have 
been when He came into the presence of the Throne of His 
Father when He took His seat, greeted with the word of 
welcome: " Thou art a priest forever after the order of 
Melchisedec — sit thou at my right hand until I make thine 
enemies thy footstool." What a glorious scene it must have 
been participated in by the angels in heaven! And now He 
is back with the Father. In His Name we can approach 
God; He is our Advocate, our Priest in the presence of God, 
appearing for His own. The evidence that He is thus with 
the Father is soon given by the answered prayer of the first 
chapter, and the greater evidence, the outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit, the Coming of the third person of the Trinity. 

We must not overlook the teaching of one great truth 
assailed so much in our times by higher critics and infidels. 
The Lord Jesus Christ passed through the heavens with a 
real human glorified body, a body of flesh and bones and 
went with that body to a literal place, the throne of God, 
where He sat down and where He is now " the Man " in the 
Glory. The denial of this fact, so universal in our day, 
strikes at the very foundation of the Gospel, our salvation 
and our heavenly Hope. This great truth that the Lord left 
bodily His own and bodily returned to the Father is indis- 
putably seen in this account of His ascension. May His 
person, His ascension and bodily presence in Glory be as real 
to our hearts, dear readers, as it must have been to the hearts 
of the eye-witnesses of this great event. 

The cloud had taken Himjn and still they were gazing 
into heaven. It was because they had still a vision of that 
cloud; " as He was going." The verb used in the original 
indicates this. They could not take their eyes away from 
that bright spot where He was, their Saviour, their Lord, 
their Hope, their All in All. This upward look should have 
been the attitude of the church. Two heavenly visitors ap- 



21 



pear now upon the scene and they give utterance to that 
familiar promise of His Second Coming, which establishes 
that great event beyond the shadow of a doubt. " This 
Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall 
thus come in the manner in which ye have beheld Him going 
into heaven." Could human language make it any plainer? 
It seems almost impossible that any intelligent human being 
could not grasp the simple fact of His return, personal, 
visible and glorious, as revealed in this angelic message. 
The same glory cloud will bring Him back, yea even to the 
same place, for Zechariah tells us that " His feet shall stand 
in that day upon the Mount of Olives " (chapter xiv:4). 

However, we must beware of confounding this event 
given here with that blessed Hope, which is the Hope of the 
church. The Coming of the Lord is His visible Coming as 
described in the prophetic books of the Old Testament; it is 
His coming to establish His rule upon the earth. It is the 
event spoken of in Daniel vii:14 and Rev. i:7. When He 
comes in like manner as He went up, His Saints come 
with Him (Col. iii:4; 2 Thess. i:10). The Hope of the 
church is to meet Him in the air and not to see Him coming 
in the clouds of heaven. The coming here " in like manner " 
is His Coming for Israel and the nations. The Coming of 
the Lord for His Church before His visible and glorious 
Manifestation, is revealed in 1 Thess. iv:16-18. It is well 
to keep these important truths in mind. Confusion between 
these is disastrous. He left them to enter into the Holy of 
Holies, to exercise the priesthood which Aaron exercised 
on the day of atonement, though our Lord is a priest after 
the order of Melchisedec. And when this promise of the 
two men in white garments is fulfilled, He will come forth 
to be a priest upon His throne. 



22 



II. The waiting company in prayer. Matthias added to 
the Apostles in the place of Judas. 

Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called 
Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. And 
when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where 
abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, 
and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, 
and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all 
continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the 
women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 
(Verses 12-14.) 

With what emotions they must have left the blessed 
spot from which the Lord had visibly gone to the Father! 
And now we behold them in a waiting attitude. Obe- 
dient to the command of their Lord they tarry in Jeru- 
salem and wait for the promise of the Father. Their waiting 
was unique as a company of disciples, believers in Jesus as 
the Christ. They were not the church. Ten days after the 
promise of the Father came, the Holy Spirit was poured 
out. Ever since He is here. There is no need of waiting 
now for the promise of the Father. No company of believers 
in this age could ever be again in the position in which the 
disciples were before Pentecost. It is, therefore, incorrect 
and unscriptural to hold prayer meetings, as stated before, 
waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Persons who 
expect a repetition of what took place on Pentecost, who 
pray for and expect another sending of the Holy Spirit are 
on unscriptural ground. 

We see the disciples gathered in an upper chamber. This 
was not in the temple, but in a private house. Perhaps it 
was the same room, which is mentioned in the Gospel of 
John. Such rooms of good size were used by Hebrews for 
prayer and meditations. They do so still and have large 
assembly rooms for prayer (Beth Midrash) in private houses 
in different cities. The expression "upper room" is used 



23 



often in talmudical writings. Peter's name is put in the first 
place, as he appears in the foreground throughout the first 
part of this book. After the names of the disciples are given 
a,nd that they gave themselves with one accord to continual 
prayer the fact is mentioned that the women were present 
likewise. These, no doubt, are the same mentioned in Luke 
viii: 2—3. They are mentioned not by name. Last of all 
appears Mary the mother of Jesus and His brethren. That 
the Holy Spirit gives the name of Mary the mother of Jesus, 
is most significant. It reminds us of the whole story of 
the incarnation and the blessed life of Him, the Son of God, 
who came of a woman, Mary, the virgin of prophecy (Isaiah 
vii: 14). But the significance is in the fact that she, who was 
chosen by God's grace to be the blessed vessel, through whom 
the Creator, the Son of God, entered in human form the 
world He had created, is mentioned here in company with 
the other waiting disciples. She has no place of superiority 
among them, but with the rest, waited for the promise of 
the Father; when the Holy Spirit was poured forth she too 
was baptized by the one Spirit into the one body of which 
through the Grace of God, she is a member like any other 
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. She was fallible and sinful 
like every other person, and all which a corrupt form of Chris- 
tianity has made of her is wicked teaching. Not once is she 
mentioned after this chapter in the Book of Acts. In vain 
do we look for her name in the Epistles, in which the Holy 
Spirit reveals christian doctrine and privileges. Mary, the 
mother of Jesus, has absolutely no relation to the redemption 
work of the Son of God. Then the brethren of our Lord are 
mentioned, the same, who with Mary, their mother, at- 
tempted to interfere with the ministry of our Lord (Mark 
iii: 21-31-35). Not one of these was an apostle. It is posi- 
tively stated that up to a certain point His brethren did not 
believe in Him. "For neither did His brethren believe in 
Him" (John vii: 5). How they believed later we do not 



24 



know. Their presence in the waiting company shows that 

they had believed. 

And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, 
and said, (the number of names together were about a hundred 
and twenty,) Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have 
been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David 
spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took 
Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part 
of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward 
of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, 
and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the 
dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called, in their 
proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For 
it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, 
and let no man dwell therein; and, His bishoprick let another take. 
(Verses 15-20.) 

On a certain day, which is not mentioned, the number 
of the disciples present were one hundred and 
twenty. This however, was not by any means the whole 
number of believers before Pentecost. We read elsewhere 
that the risen Christ had appeared to about five hundred 
brethren at once (1 Cor. xv: 6). These no doubt belonged to 
Galilee. On that day before Pentecost, Peter arose in the 
midst of the one hundred and twenty and addressing them 
as brethren, laid before them the sad case of Judas, who had 
been numbered among the twelve apostles. The awful fate 
of Judas is mentioned once more. There is no discrepancy 
between Matthew's account and the words here. He com- 
mitted suicide by hanging, and the rope broke, and the ter- 
rible thing happened, which is reported here. The Apostle 
Peter, in bringing the case before the disciples, quotes the 
Word of God in a most remarkable way, which shows its 
inspiration. 

. The question arises at once about the legitimacy of Peter's 
action. Was it right to act in this way? Was he authorized 
to address the assembled company and propose the addition 
of another apostle in the place of Judas? Or was his action 



25 



another evidence of his impulsiveness, wholly wrong? We 
are aware that some good brethren, teachers of the Bible, 
declare that Peter made a mistake. They tell us that this 
action was not according to the mind of the Lord. They 
assert furthermore, that not Matthias, but Paul, should have 
been the Apostle in the place of Judas. 

We do not agree at all with their teaching. Peter and the 
gathered company did not make a mistake. He acted by 
inspiration and what they did was not only according to the 
mind of the risen Christ, according to the Word of God, but 
it was a manifestation of Christ in their midst. It was the 
Lord who added Matthias to the twelve. To say that Paul 
was meant to be the twelfth apostle is a great blunder. Paul's 
apostleship is entirely different from that of the men, who 
were called to this office by our Lord, in connection with His 
earthly ministry. Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles and 
received from the risen and glorified Christ the double min- 
istry, that of the Gospel, which he called "my Gospel" and 
the ministry of the church. Not till Israel's failure had been 
fully demonstrated in the stoning of Stephen, was Saul of 
Tarsus called to his apostleship. Furthermore twelve apos- 
tles were necessary. Twelve is the number denoting earthly 
government. Inasmuch as there was to be given another wit- 
ness to Jerusalem after the ascension of our Lord, a national 
witness, a second offer of the Kingdom (Acts iii: 19, 20) 
twelve apostles were necessary as a body of witnesses to the 
nation. If only eleven apostles had stood up on the day of 
Pentecost, it would not have been in harmony with the divine 
plan and order. How strange it would have sounded if the 
record said "but Peter standing up with the ten" instead 
of "with the eleven" (Chapter ii: 14). Twelve had to stand 
up on Pentecost to bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ, therefore another one had to be added before that 
day. Besides this, there is positive proof that the Holy 
Spirit indorsed the action of the disciples in the upper room. 



26 



In 1 Corinthians xv: 5 the Holy Spirit mentions the tweke, 
who saw the Lord, to whom He appeared. Paul then is 
mentioned apart from the twelve; he saw the Lord in glory 
as one born out of due season (Verse 8). 

A closer examination of the record of their action shows 
that the Lord guided them in this matter. Peter begins by 
quoting scripture. He does it in a way which clearly proves 
that he was guided by the Lord. "The Scriptures should be 
fulfilled" is what Peter said. How different from the Peter 
in Matthew xvi when he took the Lord aside and said after 
he had announced His coming death, "far be it from Thee." 
He had then no knowledge of the Scriptures. Repeatedly it 
is said that they knew not the Scriptures and that their eyes 
were holden. Here, however, he begins with the Scriptures. 
Surely this was the right starting point, and thus ordered by 
the Lord. He quotes from the Psalms. Part of Psalm lxix: 
25 and Psalm cix: 8 are given by him as the foundation of 
the purposed action. These Psalms are prophetic of the 
events, which had taken place. The Lord Himself had 
opened his understanding as well as that of the other disci- 
ples. In Luke xxiv we read that He spoke of what was writ- 
ten in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms. 
"Then He opened their understanding to understand the 
Scripture" (Luke xxiv: 46). It was a gift of the risen Lord 
and here Peter guided by the Spirit of God uses the prophetic 
Word. All the company is one with Him in the undertaking. 
It must be done. The Lord moved them in this matter. 

Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all 
the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning 
from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken 
up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his 
resurrection. (Verses 21-22.) 

Here he defines the qualification of an apostle. He must 
be a witness of the resurrection of Christ as well as of what 
He said and did in His earthly ministry. 



27 



And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was 
surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, 
Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether 
of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this minis- 
try and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that 
he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; 
and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the 
eleven apostles. (Verses 23-26.) 

How simple it all is! How can anyone say that they erred 
in this action! Two are selected. Then they prayed; no 
doubt Peter led in audible prayer. And the prayer is a model 
of directness and simplicity. They address the Lord and 
believe that He had made a choice already. What they 
pray for is that the one chosen by Him may now be made 
known by Himself. The lot was perfectly legitimate for 
them to use. The Scriptures speak of it. "The lot is cast into 
the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" 
(Prov. xvi:33). As they were still on Old Testament 
ground, it was perfectly right for them to resort to the lot. 
It, however, would be wrong for us to do it now. We have 
His complete Word, and the Holy Spirit to reveal His will. 
The Lord selects Matthias. His name means "the gift of 
the Lord." Thus the Lord gave him his place. The Apos- 
tolate complete, all was in readiness for the great day of 
Pentecost. 



28 



CHAPTER II. 

A chapter of great importance is before us. Never was 
its closest and prayerful study so needed as in our days. 
Most of God's people are ignorant of that which God in His 
Grace did on the day of Pentecost; they know little of the 
exact meaning of the great event, which took place and their 
share and part in it as believers. This lack of knowledge is 
often responsible for all the fads and fanciful interpretations 
we meet about us. 

We divide this chapter into five parts. 

I. The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Verses 1-4). 

II. The immediate effect of His Presence (Verses 5-15). 

III. Peter's address (Verses 14-36). 

IV. The result of the delivered testimony (Verses 37^1). 

V. The gathered company in fellowship (Verses 42-47). 

Before we take up the first part and study the text, we 
desire to make a few general remarks on the great historical 
event, the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. 
What took place on that memorable day and what was 
accomplished? First of all the promise of the Father as well 
as of the Son was accomplished. It is familiar to every reader 
of the New Testament that John the Baptist had witnessed 
concerning Him who was to baptize them with the Holy 
Spirit (Matthew iii). The Lord also had spoken repeatedly 
to His disciples about the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Luke xi 
we read His words: "If therefore ye, being evil, know how 
to give good gifts to your children, how much rather shall 



29 



the Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to them 
that ask Him?" This promise related to the future. In 
John vii: 37-39 we read: "In the last, the great day of the 
feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any one thirst, let 
him come to me and drink. He that believes on Me, as the 
Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living 
water. But this He said concerning the Spirit, which they 
that believed on Him were about to receive; for the Spirit 
was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. " The 
promised Spirit could therefore not come, the promise could 
not be fulfilled till the great work of redemption on the cross 
had been accomplished and the Lord Jesus Christ had risen 
from the dead and taken His place in Glory. In the sub- 
sequent promises in this Gospel, the Lord always spoke of 
the coming of the Comforter in connection with His own 
departure. He promised that the other Comforter, the Spirit 
of Truth, was to be in them; but none of these promises 
could be fulfilled before He Himself had been glorified. We 
have already seen how He, before His departure to be with 
the Father, had told them to tarry in Jerusalem, to await the 
promise of the Father, and how He had reminded them that: 
"John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized 
of the Holy Spirit after not many days." On the day of Pen- 
tecost all these blessed promises were once and for all ful- 
filled. As all believers are sanctified through the offering of 
the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews x) so all 
believers share in the accomplished promise of the Father 
and are in the possession of the Holy Spirit. But we must 
emphasize that He was not given by measure, but He, the 
person, came Himself. What a blessed Work, a work we 
cannot fully estimate, the Lord Jesus Christ must have 
accomplished on the cross, that the third person of the Trinity 
came down from heaven and has made His abiding place in 
believing sinners! His presence therefore testifies not only 
to the fact that the promise of the Father has been accom- 



30 



piished, but also to the efficacy of the precious blood, and 
that Jesus is in glory at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 

It is therefore incorrect to ask God for the gift of His 
Spirit, or to plead promises which He fulfilled on the day 
of Pentecost. It is not scriptural to pray for a greater 
baptism of the Spirit, as it is often done, or, to ask God to 
give more of the Spirit. He has given us His Spirit, He 
seals every believer and indwells every child of God. 

And what are the purposes of the gift of the Spirit on 
the day of Pentecost? Without giving a lengthy disser- 
tation on the work of the Holy Spirit in this age we only 
point out that the purpose of His coming is revealed in the 
historical event reported to us in this chapter. Other 
purposes are indicated, and these are later fully revealed 
in the Pauline Epistles. The Book of Acts, as a purely 
historical book, does not contain a single doctrine of the 
Holy Spirit; it rather shows revealed doctrine in its practical 
side. 

Two things are at once apparent. He came upon the 
assembled believers individually, and also did a work in 
a corporate way. Each believer on that day was filled with 
the Holy Spirit. He came as the indweller to each. But 
He also was present as the mighty rushing wind which rilled 
all the house. He did not only come upon each,- but all were 
baptized of the Holy Spirit, and He united them into a 
body. In 1 Corinthians xii:13 the more complete revela- 
tion is given concerning this fact. " For by one Spirit are 
we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gen- 
tiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made 
to drink into one Spirit." The One Spirit is the Holy Spirit 
as He came on the day of Pentecost, the One Body is the 
church. All believers were on that day united by the Spirit 
into the one body, and since then, whenever and wherever 
a sinner believes in the finished work of Christ, he shares 
in that baptism and is joined by the Spirit to that one body. 



31 



He may be in dense ignorance about all this, as indeed 
the great majority of believers are; but this does not alter 
the gracious fact of what God has done and is doing. The 
believing company was then formed on the day of Pente- 
cost into one body. It was the birthday of the church. 

There is an interesting correspondency between the 
second chapter of Luke and the second chapter of Acts, which 
we cannot pass by without mentioning. In the first chapter 
of Luke we have the announcement of the birth of the 
Saviour. The angel said to Mary, " The Holy Spirit shall 
come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall over- 
shadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be 
born of thee shall be called the Son of God." In the second 
chapter of the Gospel of Luke, the same who penned the book 
of Acts, we read of the accomplishment of that promise 
given to the virgin. And so the second chapter of Acts 
contains the fulfillment of a similar promise. The Holy 
Spirit came and the church, the mystical body of Christ 
began. 

We said that Pentecost marks the beginning of the church 
on earth. This is often doubted by Christian believers. 
Some claim that the church began in the Old Testament. 
The sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew answers 
this wrong statement and belief completely. Others teach 
that the church did not begin on Pentecost, but some time 
later, after the Apostle Paul had begun his activity. So 
far has this point been pressed that membership in the body 
of Christ has even been denied to the twelve apostles, that 
they were exclusively on kingdom ground. That such 
theories and views are not only fanciful but very confusing 
and harmful needs not to be demonstrated. It is quite 
true that the doctrine concerning the church as the body 
of Christ as well as the other relationships was not made 
known on the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out. 
In fact, any doctrine would be out of place in a book 



32 



which gives a historical account. But this does not mean 
that the start was not made. The foundation of the 
building as described in Ephesians are the Apostles and 
Prophets (not Old Testament Prophets, but the New Testa- 
ment Prophets). Later Gentiles were added to be joint 
heirs of the same body and joint partakers of the promises. 
Then through the chosen instrument, the Apostle Paul, 
the secret which was not made known in other ages was 
made known. The Apostles and the Prophets knew of it 
according to Ephes. iii:5, but only to the Apostle Paul was it 
given to reveal it. 

That the church as the body of Christ existed before 
Paul ever revealed the mystery is clearly seen from the 
account of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. The glori- 
fied Christ was seen by him on the road to Damascus. 
He heard Him speak and these were His words: " Saul, 
Saul, why persecutest Thou ME?" He was not perse- 
cuting Jesus Christ personally, but he was persecuting such 
who had believed in Christ. The Lord from the glory 
owns these as part of Himself. They were indeed members 
of His body. 

We state it again, the Holy Spirit came to each believer 
on the day of Pentecost, they received Him, He filled them 
individually and corporately they were united into one 
body. And what was done then is done in the case of every 
believing one who rests on the finished work of Christ. As 
a believer each receives the Holy Spirit and becomes a 
member of the body of Christ. " There may be a variety 
of forms and measures in which His power is displayed; 
there may be and are different degrees in which the joy 
of His presence is entered into; but the fact remains (and 
what can be more glorious and blessed than the fact) that, as 
to Himself he dwells equally in every believer who rests 
now on the finished redemption in Christ Jesus. "* 

*Lectures on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. 



33 



Of many other things which might be mentioned by 
way of introduction we only mention two. 

The testimony was given by the Spirit filled disciples 
and every man heard them speak in his own language; 
those who were present were " out of every nation under 
heaven." They were all Jews not a single Gentile was 
present. However, the event shows that the good news 
was to go forth in the new age, to every nation under 
heaven. 

Lastly we call attention to the fact that the events on 
the day of Pentecost have a special Jewish-national sig- 
nificance. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is demon- 
strated. The signs are given to show unto the people 
Israel that Jesus of Nazareth whom they rejected is the 
Christ and at the right hand of God. The day of Pente- 
cost marks the beginning of a second offer of mercy 
to the nation. This fact will be carefully studied as we 
expound this chapter and the chapters which follow. And 
now we turn to the text itself. 

I. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all 
with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound 
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the 
house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them 
cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And 
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak 
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Verses 1-4.) 

Pentecost is a Jewish feast. This name was given to 
this feast by the Greek-speaking Jews, because it occurred 
50 days after the offering of the barley sheaf during the 
Passover feast. In the Old Testament it has three names. 
u Chag Ha Kasir" Feast of Harvest, Exodus xxiii:16; "Ckag 
Shavuoth" Exodus xxxiv:22, Feast of Weeks and "Tom 



34 

ha-Bikkurim" Num. Xxviii:26; Day of the First Fruits. 
The orthodox Jews call it simply " Shavuoth." It commem- 
orates the wheat harvest. After the exile it became the 
traditional feast to remember the giving of the law, the 
birthday of the To rah (law). The orthodox Jews in keeping 
it, at the present time, besides the prayers they offer, read 
publicly in their synagogues the account of the giving of the 
law as recorded in Exodus. 

From the prophets they read the first chapter of the 
Prophet Ezekiel and the third chapter of Habakkuk. No 
doubt this was their custom at the time when the Holy 
Spirit was poured out. It is not unlikely that the Jews 
were occupied with the reading of these portions of God's 
Word, when suddenly there came the sound from heaven. 
It is certainly a significant fact that some of the outward 
signs which were present when the law was given, the 
" tempest," " lire " and " the voice of words " (Hebrews 
xii:18-19) were prominent on the day when the Holy Spirit 
came. A new dispensation was inaugurated with outward 
signs and wonders. But as the outward signs were not 
present at all times during the dispensation of the law, but 
simply in 1 the beginning, so in this new dispensation these 
outward signs were only for the beginning. 

The reading on the day of Pentecost of the first chapter 
of Ezekiel and the third of Habakkuk, especially the lat- 
ter, 1 is prophetic. 1 It points towards that time when Jehovah- 
Jesus will be manifested in visible glory, and when all that 
will be fulfilled spoken concerning the nation Israel, which 
was not fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, nor ever after up 
to the present time. 

Before we look at the details of the outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit we wish to mention the day of the week on 
which the event occurred. This is an interesting ques- 
tion. It was iio doubt on the Lord's day. The best which 
has been written on this point is by Lightfoot. As his 



35 



statements are not accessible to all we quote here from his 
Horae Hebraeicae: 

" Let us inquire, therefore, whether the day of Pentecost 
fell on their sabbath day. I know, indeed, that the fifty 
days are reckoned by some from the resurrection of our 
Lord; and then Pentecost, or the fiftieth day, must fall 
on the fiftieth day of the week, that is our Lord's day; but 
if we number the days from the common epoch, that is from 
the time of offering the sheaf of firstfruits, which account 
doubtless Luke follows, then the day of Pentecost fell on 
the Jewish sabbath. And here, by the good leave of some 
learned men, it may be questioned, whether the Holy Spirit 
was poured out upon the disciples on the very day of Pente- 
cost, or not. The reasons of this question may be these: 

" 1. The ambiguity of the words themselves 'when the 
day of Pentecost was fully come.' In Italian they are 
translated ' E nel finire del giorno della Pentecoste " that is 
' when it was fully gone.' So that the phrase in the Greek 
leaves it undetermined, whether the day of Pentecost was 
fully come or fully gone, and what is there could be alleged 
against it, should we render it in the latter sense?* 

"2. It is worthy of our observation, that Christ the 
antitype, in answering some types that represented Him, 
did not tie Himself up to the very day of the type itself for 
the fulfilling of it, but put it off to the day following. So 
it was not upon the very day of Passover, but the day 
following, that Christ, our passover, was sacrificed for us; 
it was not on the very day that the sheaf of the firstfruits 
was offered, but the day following, that Christ became the 
firstfruits of them that slept. And so it was agreeable to 
reason and to the order wherein He disposed of things already 
mentioned, that He should give the day following, the day 

*Rotherham translated it " when the day of Pentecost was being 
filled up." The original shows that the feast was in process. 



36 



of His own resurrection from the grave; that the Spirit 
should not be poured out upon the same day wherein the 
giving of the law was commemorated, but upon a day that 
might keep up the commemoration of Himself forever. 

" 3. We can hardly think of a more fit and proper reason 
why upon this day they should be gathered together in one 
place, than that they were so gathered together for the 
celebration of the Lord's day. ... On that day beyond 
all controversy, the Holy Spirit did come down amongst 
them." 

On the Lord's day they were all together. How large 
the number we do not know, yet it is more than probable 
that every believer in the Lord was present. Suddenly 
something happened. A sound was heard from heaven. 
The sound was more than a mighty wind; the literal ren- 
dering of the description is " as a violent, impetuous blow- 
ing." This mighty rushing, blowing wind filled the house 
where they were sitting. It all came to pass in the twinkling 
of an eye. 

Before we continue our meditation on this event we 
call attention briefly to the mode and manner of the de- 
parture of the church from the earth. It will be " sud- 
denly." This is according to His own and last promise, 
"Behold I come quickly" (lit.: speedily). Some day He 
will come suddenly for His saints and take them to Glory 
into His own presence as revealed in 1 Thessal. iv:13-18 
The birth of the church was an instantaneous event as 
well as miraculous. The departure of the true church 
will be the matter of a moment and will be miraculous. 
But this is only a passing thought suggested by the word 
" suddenly." 

The rushing wind, which filled the whole house, was the 
first sign of the advent of the Holy Spirit. As an outward 
sign it accompanied the descent of the divine Person who 



37 



had come to dwell in these believers and to form and start 
the building, which is His habitation. In 1 Kings viii, verse 
2 we read that the cloud, the sign of Jehovah's presence, 
filled the whole house after the sacrifices had been brought. 
But here was a still greater event than that which took place 
at the dedication of the great Solomonic temple. The whole 
house was filled in which the believers were gathered to 
signify thereby that from now on there would be a nobler 
building on earth, the church, the habitation of God through 
the Spirit (Ephes. ii:22). 

Besides this outward sign for the sense of hearing there 
was also a visible sign that the Holy Spirit had come. There 
appeared unto them parted tongues as of fire, and it sat 
upon each one of them. While the filling of the house 
indicated the fact that His abode would be the church, 
the parted tongues as of fire sitting upon each, testified to the 
fact that every one of the company had received Him. 
There was no difference among them. Peter, John and 
James did not receive " more of Him " than the youngest 
and weakest of these believers. The person, not a power or 
influence given by measure, had filled each and every believer. 
He came as the gift of God. 

The parted tongues as of fire were the symbols of the 
diverse languages in which the testimony concerning Christ 
and the blessed Gospel was now to go forth. The fire 
was of course not literal fire. It is symbolical of the righte- 
ousness and holiness of God, as well as of judgment. 

" The tongues were 6 as of fire,' for the testimony of 
Grace was none the less founded on righteousness. The 
Gospel is intolerant of evil. This is the wonderful way 
in which God now speaks by the Holy Spirit. Whatever 
the mercy of God, whatever the proved weakness, need 
and guilt of man, there is not nor can be the least com- 
promise of holiness. God can never sanction the evil of man. 
Hence the Spirit of God was thus pleased to mark the 



38 



character of His presence, even though given of the grace 
of God, but founded on the righteousness of God. God 
could afford fully to bless. It was no derogation from 
His Glory; it was after all but His seal on the perfectness 
of the work of the Lord Jesus." 

And this great gift was not only given to that assembled 
company of believers, but every one who is born again 
throughout this age in which the church is forming, shares 
in this gift and the Holy Spirit is through Grace the heavenly 
and abiding guest in the believer. There is no need for the 
believer to ask Him to come, but the need is to realize in 
faith that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit and then live 
and act according to this great truth. But there was a 
third sign. They began to speak in other tongues as the 
Spirit gave them utterance. Thus we have three great 
signs: The mighty rushing winds, the parted tongues as of 
fire and the speaking in other tongues, the result of the 
Holy Spirit's inward presence. 

Wind, fire and voices. As stated before the Law at 
Sinai was given under some of these accompanying signs. 
This is likewise true of some of the other theophanies of 
the Old Testament, for instance in the history of Elijah, 
where the tempest, the fire and the still small voice are 
prominent. All this shows that a divine person, God the 
Holy Spirit, had come. A most interesting talmudical 
tradition declares that when God gave the Law from Sinai 
the voice of God parted into seven voices; each of the seven 
voices again parted into different voices, so that God heralded 
the law in seventy different tongues heard by all the nations 
of the earth. 

This is only a tradition and no doubt incorrect, but here 
on the day of Pentecost a miracle took place in that all 
who had received the Holy Spirit spoke in other tongues. 

We give this part of the chapter the most careful at- 
tention. It is of great importance that we examine this 



39 



miraculous evidence of the advent and presence of the 
Holy Spirit as thoroughly as we can. Of late a move- 
ment has sprung up, which appears in different sects and 
calls itself either the Apostolic Faith, or the Pentecost 
Movement, etc. These movements claim that the Holy 
Spirit is poured out again and that along with His coming 
there is the same miracle of the gift of tongues. 

And now before we tak© up this subject in detail we 
read the contents of the next paragraph of this chapter. 

II. The immediate effect of His Presence 

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out 
of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, 
the multitude came together, and were confounded, because 
that every man heard them speak in his own language. And 
they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Be- 
hold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we 
every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, 
and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in 
Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pam- 
phylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and 
strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, 
we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of 
God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying 
one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, 
These men are full of new wine. (Verses 5-15.) 

It is clear from the inspired narrative that all the assem- 
bled believers spoke in other tongues, that is, in different 
languages, and that it was as the Holy Spirit gave them to 
speak forth. This third great sign which happened on the 
day of Pentecost has been differently interpreted, and by 
some the miracle has been altogether denied. We mention 
very briefly some of these different views. 

One prominent view which was already advanced by some 
of the so-called "church-fathers," and which has not a few 
modern followers, is that the miracle consisted in the way 



40 



the multitude heard rather than in the speaking of the Spirit- 
filled disciples. According to this view the people heard in the 
different languages, while the company of the believers only 
spoke in their own tongue. This view hardly needs an answer, 
because it states something which is in direct opposition to 
the words of the record, "they began to speak in other 
tongues.' 7 

Some of the critics claim that the speaking and hearing 
must have been the result of a "magnetic report'' between 
the speakers and the hearers. Such a foolish view is easily 
answered by the fact that they first spake and there was none 
there to listen, some time later the multitude crowded in, at- 
tracted by the rumor. Others declared that the new or other 
tongues meant a new spiritual language, or that they spoke 
in an unusual, enthusiastic poetical phraseology, etc. All 
these versions as well as others are in such flagrant contra- 
diction with the simple words here before us that it is un- 
necessary to follow them any further. 

The speaking in other languages was a miracle produced 
by the Holy Spirit who had come upon them in mighty power. 
These Galileans spoke in different tongues, sixteen at least, 
if not more. "By a sudden and powerful inspiration of the 
Holy Spirit, these disciples uttered, not of their own minds, 
but as mouthpieces of the Holy Spirit, the praises of God in 
various languages hitherto, and possibly at the time itself, 
unknown to them."* 

The significance of this miracle speaking in other tongues 
is not hard to discover. It was the oral manifestation of 
the parted tongues of fire, which had come upon each. Be- 
sides this it proclaimed the great fact that the Holy Spirit 
had come to make known the blessed Gospel to all nations 
under heaven, and though no Gentiles were present when 
this took place, the languages of the Gentiles were heard, 



*Dean Alvord in Greek New Testament, 



41 



and that from Jewish lips, indicating that the Gospel should 
indeed go forth to the uttermost parts of the earth. For the 
unbelieving multitude it was a sign though we do not read 
anything in the record that they were converted by hearing 
their different languages spoken. They were amazed and in 
perplexity, while others mocked upon those it made no 
impression at all. The great result on the day of Pentecost 
was by the preaching of the Gospel from Peter's lips. 

This brings before us the question, What did they speak 
in these different tongues? Did they all proclaim in an 
orderly discourse the Gospel, or relate something concerning 
the person of Christ, or were their utterances rather of an 
ecstatic nature, in the form of praising God, exalting His 
Name? We believe the latter was the case. It was rather an 
outburst of praise to God for the great things He had done, 
than the preaching of the Gospel. All was done, no doubt, 
in perfect order and not in confusion. The gift was bestowed 
just for this occasion and not for future use. 

We look in vain through this Book to find that they con- 
tinued in speaking in these different languages. It is a wrong 
conception to think that they exercised this gift ever after 
in preaching the Gospel. From the sixteenth chapter we 
learn that Paul 'and Barnabas did not understand the Lyca- 
onian speech; the Greek language was universally used and 
made the use of the other languages almost unnecessary. 

Twice more we find in this book the tongues mentioned 
in connection with the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Acts x: 46 
and chapter xix: 6. In the first passage Cornelius and his 
household having believed the Gospel received the Holy 
Spirit and they spake with tongues. Not a word is said in 
this instance that other languages were used. There was no 
need for it. It was an ecstatic speech glorifying God. In 
chapter xix after the Apostle Paul had laid hands upon the 
disciples of John whom he had found in Ephesus (a thing 
which Peter did not do with Cornelius) the Holy Spirit came 



42 



upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 
Here again not a word is said about anyone hearing a strange 
language. The speaking in tongues is here paired with proph- 
esying. These are the three instances in the Book of Acts 
where speaking in tongues is mentioned. On the day 
of Pentecost; Cornelius and his house and the Jewish 
disciples found in the dispersion, waiting for the Hope of 
Israel. In each case it was for a sign and for a specific pur- 
pose, but only in the first instance are different dialects and 
languages mentioned. On the day of Pentecost the gift was 
for a sign to the multitude; in chapter x the evidence to 
Peter and the Apostles that the Gentiles had received the 
same gift (chapter xi: 15) and in chapter xix the outward 
evidence that the Jewish disciples of John had also received 
the Holy Spirit and shared in the same gift. 

We read not a word about this gift in connection with the 
other places visited by the apostles, not a word is said about 
speaking in tongues in the ministry of Philip in Samaria, nor 
during the great journeys of the Apostle Paul, with the excep- 
tion of the case mentioned above. It is therefore clear that 
the speaking in tongues was neither a universal nor a per- 
manent gift, and that it appeared only in these three cases 
for a sign. 

We emphasize these facts on account of these spurious 
movements which claim that a greater outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit is now in progress, that each believer must seek 
"his Pentecost" and that the true evidence of being filled 
with the Holy Spirit is the speaking in an unknown tongue. 
Such claims are unscriptural and cannot at all be confirmed 
by the historical account of this book for thousands and tens 
of thousands were saved and baptized by the one Spirit into 
the one body, the Holy Spirit filling them, without ever speak- 
ing in an unknown tongue. Stephen was a believer who was 
indeed full of the Holy Spirit. Nowhere do we read that he 
had the gift of tongues. 



43 



However in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians we 
find a long chapter in which "speaking in unknown tongues" 
is largely entered into. From this chapter we learn that 
that gift was prevalent in the Corinthian assembly (chapter 
xiv). In the twelfth chapter where the different gifts of the 
Spirit are enumerated we find the speaking in tongues and 
the interpretation of these tongues mentioned. They stand 
last in the list, showing thereby their inferior place. In the 
Epistle to the Ephesians, addressed to that assembly of 
believers who enjoyed the best gifts of the Holy Spirit, the 
Word of Wisdom and the Word of Knowledge, no mention 
whatever is made of the speaking in tongues. What the spir- 
itual condition of the assembly in Corinth was we learn from 
this entire epistle. 

Their walk was carnal, all kinds of wicked things had been 
tolerated in their midst; sectarianism and vain-glory held 
sway. Their spiritual knowledge was very low indeed, and 
the Holy Spirit could not flash forth the great truths, which 
He so fully reveals in the Epistle to the Ephesians. He had 
to take up a good part of the epistle with correcting their 
evil habits and walk. That the gift of tongues was sought 
for by these Corinthians can be learned from the chapter in 
which the Holy Spirit through Paul enlarges upon this gift. 
May they not have sought it for the sake of display rather 
than to glorify God with it? Then no doubt women were in 
the foreground, and they are especially cautioned. "Let 
your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not per- 
mitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be 
under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will 
learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home; for 
it is a shame for women to speak in the church " (xiv: 34-35). 

In this modern movement women seem to be very much in 
the foreground, acting in many instances as preachers and 
leaders, and therefore in direct disobedience to the Word of 
God. Eyewitnesses have told us that they were in such 



44 



"gift of tongue meetings" where women became hysterical, 
rolled on the floor, uttered all kinds of queer noises, screeched 
like the former prophets of Baal "Oh God, send the power!" 
One friend said he felt he was among demons. Convulsions, 
rigor and foaming at the mouth like madmen were also 
noticed. Some such things may have also happened in Cor- 
inth for we read several exhortations in this chapter which 
point in this direction. "For God is not the author of con- 
fusion (lit.: tumult)" (verse 33). "Let all things be done 
decently and in order" (verse 40). We quote here from a 
pamphlet by Dr. Arthur T. Pierson, on 1 Corinthians xiv. 

(1) Speaking in an unknown tongue is unintelligible to the 
hearer. If it be genuine, it is only known as such to God, so 
that even when one so speaks in the Spirit he speaks mysteries 
to all others — which we take to be the true reading here. 

(2) Speaking with tongues, therefore, is not in and by 
itself edifying to men. While prophesying is profitable for 
"edification, exhortation and comfort," the gift of tongues 
in itself can do no more than cause the hearer to wonder and 
be in awe at what he understands not. 

(3) Speaking with tongues, therefore, is comparatively 
undesirable and unserviceable. It ranks last among all the 
Spirit-gifts and manifestations, and is mentioned- among the 
last in the enumeration in chapter xii:7-10, where seven 
other gifts out-rank it. 

(4) Speaking with tongues is dependent for all real 
value upon the companion gift of interpretation of tongues, 
and hence is coupled with it in the previous category of 
gifts (xii: 10). In fact, only such interpretation of what is 
uttered can lift it to the level of "that which is good to the 
use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers" 
(Eph. iv:29). There is no speaking with tongues apart 
from such interpretation, no profit, for it brings no "revela- 
tion," "knowledge," "prophesying," or "doctrine" (verse 6), 



45 



(5) More even than this: speaking with tongues may 
degenerate into an empty display of the mysterious — a mere 
babble, if not babel, of confusion, like many "sounds" (or 
"tunes" — margin), in which no one can tell what is sense 
and what is non-sense, what is spurious and what is genuine. 

(6) Speaking with tongues is rather a means of dispersion 
than of closer association. Its tendencies are divergent, not 
convergent. As at babel, when they could not understand 
one another's speech they separated and scattered, so, if the 
hearer "know not the meaning of the voice," the speaker will 
'be unto him a barbarian" — i. <?., a foreigner, and conversely. 

(7) Such a gift, therefore, acts rather as a hindrance 
than a help to common joint worship. Part of the power 
and acceptableness of all worship and service in the assem- 
bly depends on the responsiveness of the worshipper to the 
leader. Whether it be the service of song, praise, or prayer, 
or hearing of the Word, what is in a dead language cannot 
evoke the hearer's " Amen." How can the heart intelli- 
gently answer to what is not understood by the " unlearned ?" 
However well the speaker does, the hearer cannot enter 
into the sentiment of what is spoken, and joint worship or 
communion is impossible. 

(8) The Apostle hints further that speaking with tongues 
alone — independent of interpretation — may even work 
damage. He pictures an assembly, where all speak with 
tongues, as impressing an unbelieving outsider so unfavorably 
that he declares them " mad" (verse 23). In such a jargon 
of confused sounds, he thinks himself in a mad house. 

(9) Paul goes even further, and by the Spirit enjoins 
that, when such gift actually is bestowed, its exercise shall 
be carefully regulated. And for such regulation he gives 
two distinct laws: {a) The law of precedence; (b) the law of 
silence. If any speak in unknown tongues, let it be two or 
three at a time, and these in succession, not all at once; and 



46 



let the interpretation accompany each utterance. And, 
secondly, if there be no interpreter, let the speaking with 
tongues be suppressed altogether — let him who has the gift 
keep' silence toward man, and use his gift toward God, who 
can understand him. 

(10) His final argument is that what produces confusion 
and not order cannot be of God, for He is not the author of 
disorder, but of decent conformity to law and order, and 
" peace." While, therefore, speaking with tongues is not 
to be forbidden, it is not to be coveted, but rather the edifying, 
instructive, intelligible utterances of inspired teaching. 

(11) It is more than hinted here also that speaking with 
tongues is peculiarly open to spurious imitation. The Devil, 
who is the master counterfeiter, is always with peculiar 
subtlety imitating the manifestations of the Spirit. When 
God is mightily working, so is he; and no one gift of the 
Spirit is so easily " aped " as this. So long as there be no 
interpretation to make the language intelligible, who shall 
tell whether it be blessing or cursing, reverent or profane! 
Not only can interpretation alone make speaking with 
tongues edifying, but this alone can attest it as genuine. 

(12) Some think that the injunction here, bidding the 
Corinthian " women keep silence in the assemblies," has 
special reference to this speaking with- tongues. Women 
in the Orient were then, as now, especially excitable and 
prone to excess. When once emerging from seclusion and 
privacy of their home life, and introduced into the new 
freedom of the Christian brotherhood, they often ran into 
the wildest fanaticism, and might easily have mistaken an 
hysterical mania, with its incoherent mutterings, for a gift 
of supernatural utterance." 

Another recent writer on the glossolaly or gift of tongues 
states the matter still more briefly. " We notice that, 
though Paul spoke with tongues more than all the Corin- 



47 



thians, he does not set a high value on the gift of glossolaly. 
He ranks it last of the gifts and apparently among childish 
things (1 Corinth. xiv:18-20). For (1) it did not edify 
others. Rather (2) it tended to cause disorder in the church, 
(3) The fact that the speaking in tongues lay in the spiritual 
and not in the rational sphere opened the door to dangerous 
confusion. Its phenomena might be counterfeited either 
by evil spirits, or by religious impostors and charlatans of 
which the world was then full. Again it might be hard at 
times to distinguish them from similar symptoms due to 
physical causes, etc." 

This warning is well founded indeed. It is a territory 
on which Satan appears as an angel of light and it is to be 
expected that he will develop an increasing energy in this 
direction as the coming of our Lord draws nigh. In an 
address on the characteristics of the age,* Mr. Philip Mauro 
spoke a timely word on this matter which bears repeating: 

" The wicked spirits, or demons, who form part of this 
spiritual host, display abnormal activity at the time of our 
Lord's first coming; and now again, as His second coming 
approaches, they are aroused to a state of great activity. 
Spirit ' control ' and ' possession/ accompanied by unusual 
physical demonstrations, rigor, protracted unconsciousness, 
convulsions, hysterics, spasmodic movements, strange noises, 
which may or may not be articulate speech of some sort (and 
hence easily confounded with the Holy Spirit's gift of tongues) 
are now quite common and becoming more so. These 
abnormal manifestations are no longer confined to circles 
where spiritism, hypnotism and the like are openly cultivated, 
but are now breaking out among groups of God's people 
who have been induced to stray away from scriptural 
ground, and to seek for excitements and e experiences,' who 
are urged by misguided teachers to yield themselves, to 



*Published in pamphlet form by " Our Hope." 



48 



come under ' control,' to seek ' power ' instead of weakness, 
and otherwise to disregard the plain injunctions of Scripture." 

Now while it is true that there was such a gift as speaking 
in an unknown tongue in the apostolic age, and no Christian 
believer would doubt the power of God to impart to a person 
the gift to preach the Gospel in a foreign tongue, we do not 
believe that this gift of speaking in an unknown tongue 
was to abide in the church.; Repeatedly claims were made 
in years gone by that it had been restored (for instance 
during the Irvingite delusion in England), but in every 
case it was found to be spurious or emanating from the 
enemy. The present day " apostolic or pentecostal move- 
ment" with its high pretensions and false doctrines, lacking 
true scriptural knowledge and wisdom, creating new schisms 
in the body, with its women leaders and teachers, has all 
the marks of the same great counterfeiter upon it. 

The Epistle to the Ephesians, that highest revelation 
of God, speaks of the gifts which are to abide. Apostles, 
prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers; we still have 
them. The apostles are of course the men of God, 
the great' gifts through whom the Holy Spirit revealed 
the great doctrines and truths of the New Testament, Peter, 
John, James, Paul as well as those who were not apostles, 
but the prophets, the mouthpieces of the Holy -Spirit. Evan- 
gelists preach the Gospel so that the body of Christ may 
become complete as to numbers; these will ever remain 
till the last member is added to the body. Then pastors 
and teachers to shepherd the flock of God, for the perfecting 
of the Saint. These gifts of our risen Head will abide. 
But there is not a word said about miraculous sign-gifts 
in this great epistle. 

But some have suggested that when the age draws to 
its close the Holy Spirit will once more unfold special ener- 
gies to give a last witness, and that in the closing of the age 
the Gospel of the kingdom will be heralded with accom- 



49 



panying signs and miracles among all the nations. This 
is partially founded on truth. The Gospel of the kingdom 
is to be preached and most likely special signs may accom- 
pany that preaching during that period known as " the 
great tribulation." However, the preachers of that last 
witness are not Christian believers, members of the one body, 
but the Jewish remnant will do this great work. 

On the other hand, everything in the New Testament 
Epistles as well as in the Book of Revelation, shows that 
decline, ruin and apostasy and not restoration of apostolic 
gifts and power mark the close of this Christian age. To 
demonstrate this fully would be quite impossible in this con- 
nection. 

Before we follow Peter's great address to the assembled 
multitude, a brief word on the peoples, which are mentioned 
as composing the amazed company, may be in order. When • 
it says "every nation under heaven," it does not mean that 
representatives of all the Gentile nations were there. The 
phrase has reference to the Jews and proselytes living then 
in dispersion outside of the land. All the countries into 
which they had wandered were represented in the multitude. 
Gentiles as such were not present. Nor were those present 
only from the house of Judah. The ten tribes were most 
likely also represented. This may be learned from Peter's 
address. He first addresses the men of Judah and all that 
dwell at Jerusalem; then he addresses them as men of Israel. 
So that in all probability Judah and Israel, the two houses 
into which the people of God had been divided, were repre- 
sented. These may have dwelt in Parthia, Media, Elam 
and Mesopotamia. That the ten tribes were known in apos- 
tolic times is also seen by the fact that James addressed his 
epistle to "the twelve tribes in the dispersion." We mention 
this because occasionally some one inquires about that fanci- 
ful theory called "Anglo-Israel," which claims that the Anglo- 
Saxon race is composed of the lost tribes. 



Representatives of "all Israel" were 1 present wneh the 
Holy Spirit was poured out in Jerusalem upon the believing 
Jews and when Peter arose to address them. 

III. Peter's Address. 

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and 
said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusa- 
lem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For 
these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third 
hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet 
Joel; and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will 
pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your 
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, 
and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and 
on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; 
and they shall prophesy: and I will shew wonders in heaven above, 
and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of 
smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into 
blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: and 
it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of 
the Lord shall be saved. (Verses 14-21.) 

What an impressive scene it must have been when, in the 
midst of the tumult the outbursts of praise and adoration, 
the ever-increasing multitude, Peter and the eleven with 
him arose. Twelve divinely appointed men, the twelve apos- 
tles, faced the' representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel. 
Peter is the spokesman. What boldness, courage and direct- 
ness characterizes now the man and his speech! What a 
change from the Peter before Pentecost! It was all the result 
of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Such boldness and courage 
to witness for the absent Lord is our blessed privilege like- 
wise, for we have received the same Spirit. 

Peter's address deals with the great historical facts of the 
gospel; the heart and centre of it is the resurrection and 
exaltation of the Lord Jesus. In its scope and pointedness it 
is a most wonderful production. It is in itself an evidence 



51 



that the Holy Spirit had come and that He witnessed through 
Peter. 

The main part of the address has three divisions. Each 
begins with a personal address to the hearers, states a great 
vital fact in terse language and closes with a passage from the 
Scriptures. 

1. Verses 14-22. In the opening of his address he speaks 
to them as "men of Judea and all ye inhabitants of Jeru- 
salem." Then, after briefly refuting the charge of drunken- 
ness, he quotes from the book of Joel. With this Scripture 
quotation the first part of the address closes. 

2. Verses 22-28. Now he addresses them as "men of 
Israel." Here we find a brief witness of the life, the cruci- 
fixion and resurrection of Jesus the Nazarean. Then he 
quotes, from the Book of Psalms, the sixteenth Psalm. 

3. Verses 29-36. The last part he begins with "Breth- 
ren"; in it he speaks of the coming of the Holy Spirit as the 
result of the resurrection and exaltation of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The briefest but deepest of all the Messianic Psalms 
is quoted, the one hundred and tenth. The chief part of his 
address closes with the following words: "Let the whole 
house of Israel, therefore, assuredly know that God has 
made Him, this Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord 
and Christ." After the interruption which followed, ad- 
dressed to the twelve, "What shall we do, brethren?" Peter 
spoke again, and not all his words are reported. "And with 
many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, 
Be saved from this perverse generation." 

What a great model this first sermon after the gift of the 
Holy Spirit ought to be for all who preach the Word. The 
Holy Word of God has the leading part in it to witness to the 
person of Christ, The difference between Peter's preaching 



52 



and much of the modern day preaching is indeed appalling.* 
But briefly we shall now meditate on these different parts 
of Peter's address. Its aim as already stated, was to prove to 
the house of Israel that the crucified Jesus is raised from the 
dead and that Gcd made Him Lord and Christ, witnessed to 
by the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

The accusation had been, "they are full of new wine." 
To answer this false charge was the first necessary step. 
Peter lifted up his voice, which means that he spoke in 
loud tones, which was no doubt needed on account of the 
confusion which must have prevailed. He declared that it 
was but the third hour of the day and for this reason it 
would be next to impossible that the Spirit-filled disciples were 
drunk with new wine. The third hour corresponds to our 
ninth hour of the morning. On the Sabbath or other feast 
days no Jew would eat or drink before that hour; this 
custom was universally observed at that time, and it is 
still so with the so-called "Chasidim," the most orthodox 
Jews. Nothing is tasted before the prayers of the synagogue 
are ended; these are sometimes prolonged till noon. This 
fact, apparent to all and not controvertible, disposed at once 
of the false charge. And now Peter states what it is they 
were witnessing. He quotes from one of the great Old 
Testament prophecies in the book of Joel.f That Peter 
quotes Joel in connection with his address to the men of 
Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shows the accu- 
racy of the Scriptures, for Joel's prophecy was addressed 
to Judah and Jerusalem. In the next place we notice the 
language Peter uses in quoting Joel: "This is that which 



*The continual use of anecdotes, pleasant little stories, which make 
old people smile and send the young folks a-giggling is especially 
to be condemned in Gospel preaching. The Gospel is too solemn 
a thing to be mixed with hilarity. 

fSee Exposition of "The Prophet Joel." Published by "Our 
Hope." 



53 



was spoken through the prophet Joel"; careless and super- 
ficial expositors have often stated that Peter said that all 
this happened in fulfillment of what was spoken by Joel. 
He did not use the word fulfilled at all. Had he spoken of 
a fulfillment then of Joel's prophecy, he would have uttered 
something which was not true, for the great prophecy of 
Joel was not fulfilled on that day. Nor has this prophecy 
been fulfilled since Pentecost, nor will it be fulfilled during 
this present Gospel age. This great prophecy which Peter 
quotes in part will be accomplished at the end of the Jewish 
age, that end which has not yet come and which cannot 
come as long as the church is on the earth.* Joel's prophecy 
will be fulfilled in connection with the coming of the Lord. 
Before that day comes there will be visible signs of which 
the prophet speaks. All this is still in the future. Before 
it can all be fulfilled, the events spoken of by Joel as preceding 
this prophecy must be accomplished, and, besides this, the 
church must be removed from the earth in the way as re- 
vealed in the Word (1 Thessal. iv: 15-18). 

Comparing Peter's words here with Joel's words we find 
that Peter uses instead of the phrase found in Joel, "it shall 
come to pass after these things," the expression, "it shall be 
in the last days." 

It is important to notice this. The Septuagint has the 
Greek equivalent for the Hebrew, "after these things." 
Peter specifies the time to which the prophecy refers. The 
phrase, "after these things," means "the last days." One 
of the leading Jewish expositors makes the same statement. 
"And it shall come to pass after these things" is the same as 
"it shall come to pass in the last days."f The prophecy 

*There remains one week (seven years) of Daniel's seventy-week 
prophecy to be fulfilled. That last week comes in after the church 
is completed and these seven years constitute the end of the Jewish 
age, interrupted by this present church age. 

jDavid Kimchi, who lived from 1160-1235 A. D. 



54 



relates, therefore, to the last days. This phrase, found in 
the Old Testament, has reference to the coming days of the 
Messiah, when He shall come as King and establish His 
Kingdom in the midst of His earthly people. See Isaiah ii: 
2-4; Micah iv: 1; Jeremiah^ xxiii : 20; Hosea iii:4-5, etc. 
In this sense Peter uses the phrase here and not as applying 
to this present age at all. He tells the assembled multitude 
that something similar to that which they now were witness- 
ing God had promised in connection with the days of Mes- 
siah. With'.His coming as King, the Spirit was to be poured 
out upon all flesh. That which they saw and heard was 
indeed the outpouring of the. Holy, Spirit, but not in the full 
sense as' given in the prophecy of Joel. What took place 
was an. evidence that, Jesus, whom they had crucified, is the 
true Messiah and that what had taken place is a pledge that 
in due time all of the prophecy contained in the book of Joel 
would be fulfilled. What had really taken place was not 
known to' Peter and to the eleven at that time. It was only 
subsequently revealed that by the one Spirit all were bap- 
tized into one body; the great purpose of the gift of the 
Holy Spirit for this present age was not revealed or stated 
on the day of Pentecost. It was the fact only which Peter 
speaks of, that God had promised the gift of the Spirit in 
connection with the coming of the Messiah. 

In regard to the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy we say 
once more than it cannot fall into the present age. Nor 
will it be fulfilled as long as the church is not removed 
from the earth. It comes with the second visible coming 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, preceding the establishment 
of His Kingdom. Pentecost was only the earnest of what 
is yet to take place in Jerusalem. 

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man 
approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, 
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also 
know; Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and 



55 



foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have 
crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed 
the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should 
be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw 
the Lord always before my face; for he is on my right hand, that 
I should not be moved: therefore did my heart rejoice, and my 
tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: because 
thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine 
Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the 
ways of life, thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 
(Verses 22-28.) 

Peter now puts before them in the second part of his 
address the whole story of the Messiah, whom they had 
rejected. He could therefore use, not the name as he had 
confessed Him at Caesarea Philipi, but he speaks of Him 
as "Jesus the Nazarene." By that name the lowly, blessed 
One had been known to them. That name, too, was written 
above His Cross; it was the name which was an offence to 
them. Inasmuch as it was the aim of the Holy Spirit to 
show the guilt of the nation, to demonstrate the humiliation 
and rejection of Christ and to declare His resurrection, no 
other name could be used. For us it would be improper to' 
speak of Him as "Jesus the Nazarene"; we call Him by 
His name as He is revealed in resurrection, "The Lord Jesus 
Christ." 

Briefly Peter traces the events during the past three 
years. These events were familiar to them. This Jesus the 
Nazarene was a man witnessed to by God by works of 
power and wonders and signs, which God had wrought. 
Many of his hearers had been, no doubt, eye-witnesses 
of the power of God and the wonders done. They were 
fully convinced, like Nicodemus, that no one could do 
these signs unless God was with him (John iii:2). This 
same argument that His works prove Him to be that which 
He claimed to be was used by- Himself. "The works which 
the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I 



56 



do bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me" (John 
v:36). But the stumbling block was that He had been 
crucified. Could He be truly the Messiah, who was spit 
upon, mocked, crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross? 
Was such an end in a shameful crucifixion not a sure evi- 
dence that He was not the One who was to possess glory 
and honor? The cross of Christ was the stumbling-block. 
But the Holy Spirit removes this and gives His answer. 

The death of Jesus of Nazareth was by the determinate 
counsel and foreknowledge of God. The sufferings of the 
Messiah had been fully revealed in the Old Testament; 
He must suffer these things and so enter into glory. All 
had come to pass according to the fore-knowledge of God. 
Eternally, from before the foundation of the world, God 
had made His plan and arranged all in His counsel. But 
Peter also shows that they were the guilty instruments. 
They by lawless men — that is, the Gentiles, into whose 
hands they had delivered Jesus — had crucified and slain 
Him. They were responsible for what had taken place. 
Thus the death of Christ is described. 

But next follows the great climax, the resurrection of 
the One who had been slain. God raised Him up from 
the dead. By resurrection through God's power the final 
proof is given, yea, the highest proof, that Jesus of Nazareth 
is the Christ. It was impossible that He could be held 
by the power of death. In being raised from the dead 
the " pains of death " were loosed. He came forth as the 
Firstfruits, victor over death and the grave. His redeemed 
people can now shout: " Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, 
grave, where is thy victory?" The deliverance for them 
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to 
bondage (Heb. ii:15) had come. Three great evidences 
are therefore given by Peter that Jesus of Nazareth is the 
Messiah: His life, His death, fulfilling what had been in 



57 



the counsel and foreknowledge of God, and by His resur- 
rection. 

The quotation from the sixteenth psalm follows. What 
mind of man could ever have discovered in that psalm 
a prophecy about Christ? The Holy Spirit throws His 
light upon the psalm. The Spirit who spoke through 
David had Christ in view. What David uttered he said 
" as to Him." This ought to silence every " higher critic." 
All this needs no further explanation. 

In this portion of his address Peter shows the path of 
Christ from humiliation to the death of the cross and His 
resurrection and all God's doings. In the next paragraph, 
the last part of the address of Peter, we behold Him by 
God made Lord and Christ. 

" The Man Jesus of Nazareth was by God demonstrated, 
by God wrought in among them, by God's counsel delivered 
unto death, by God raised up, and finally by God made Lord 
and Christ."* 

Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch 
David, Ithat he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with 
as unto, this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that 
God had, sworn with^an oath to. him, that of the fruit of his loins, 
according to the flesh, he would raise up Cnrist to sit on his throne; 
He, seeing this x ' before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that 
his soul was ; not, left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having 
received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath 
shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not 
ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said 
unto my' ; Lord, Sit lIiou on my right hand, until I make thy foes 
thy footstool.', Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, 
that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, 
both Lord and Christ. (Verses 29-36.) 

With these words Peter has reached the climax of his 
address. " Men-brethren," a Hebraism meaning simply 

*Alford. Greek Testament, 



58 



" Brethren," the same phrase he had used in addressing 
the waiting company before Pentecost, is how he addresses 
the gathered people. This loving expression shows how 
the Holy Spirit had filled him with love and how his heart 
was full of affection for his brethren according to the flesh. 
But he also is made very bold by the Spirit. His boldness, 
however, is not harshness, but characterized by tenderness; 
what he says is couched in humble and polite language. 
" Brethren, let it be allowed to speak with freedom to you." 
He addresses them on the matter of the prophecy already 
quoted from the sixteenth psalm concerning " the patriarch 
David." Here alone David is called a patriarch because he 
is the progenitor of the kingly race. There was a reason 
for enlarging upon that prophecy, which becomes the 
foundation of his appeal. None of the rabbis ever thought 
of applying the psalm to the promised Messiah. There 
is, however, an old tradition, which no doubt was known 
and believed in that day, which' applied the psalm literally 
to David. This application was as follows: "Those words, 
" my flesh shall rest in hope," teach us that 1 neither worm 
nor insect had any power over David." Peter shows that 
such a traditional belief that the 1 words referred to David 
himself were incorrect. They could not mean King David. 

David had died and been buried (1 Kings ii :,10). ' Moses' 
burial place was not known, but the tomb (literally mon- 
ument) of David was known amongst them in 1 that day 
(Nehemiah iii:16). David saw corruption. It was, there- 
fore, impossible that the prophecy could mean him. But 
David was a prophet and as such he spoke, not of himself, 
but of the promised descendant, who was to come out of 
his loins to occupy his throne. The promised son of David 
was none other than the Christ. So, " seeing it before " 
by the Word of God (see the similar expression in Gal. 
iii:8), he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ; 
in Him alone were these words fulfilled, 



09 



And now comes Peter's witness and that of the eleven 
as well as the other assembled believers. " This Jesus 
has God raised up, whereof we are witnesses." They had 
talked with Him, seen His body, knew that it was a real 
body of flesh and bones.* But Peter does not stop here 
with the fact of His resurrection. The Holy Spirit bears 
witness to an exaltation which human eyes had not be- 
held at that time. Stephen, Saul of Tarsus and the Apos- 
tle John were later privileged to behold the Christ in Glory. 
Here it is the direct witness of the Holy Spirit. This Jesus 
has been exalted by the right hand of God. The presence 
of the Holy Spirit, who had been poured forth, as they 
beheld and heard, was the evidence that Jesus was with the 
Father at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 

Again the Holy Spirit turns to the Scriptures. How clearly 
He proves Himself on the day of His advent that He testifies 
in the Word and through the Word! He quotes now another 
psalm, which was known among the Jews as prophesying 
about the Messiah. " David did not ascend into the 
heavens, but he says himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, 
Sit at my right hand until I have put thine enemies to be 
the footstool of thy feet." This is the beginning of that 
sublime 110th psalm. This psalm our Lord had used 
to silence His enemies. His own testimony had brought 
out four indisputable facts about that psalm. 1. That 
David wrote the psalm. 2. That he wrote it by 
the Spirit. 3. That the psalm spoke of Himself. 4. 
That it revealed Himself as both David's son and David's 
Lord (Matt, xxii: 41-46). And now the Holy Spirit uses this 
psalm likewise to show that the Christ had to ascend into 
heaven and take His place at the right hand of God till the 

*The perniciousness of the denial of the physical resurrection of 
our blessed Lord as taught in different evil " isms " (Millennial Dawn 
also called " International Bible Student Association ") of the present 
day is fully laid bare in meditating on these words. 



60 



time should come when His enemies are made His footstool. 
This exalted place Jesus the Nazarene had now taken; that 
He was really there was fully demonstrated by the outpour- 
ing of the Holy Spirit. ' But we must not overlook something 
else which this prophecy' teaches. These Jews might have 
said, If Jesus- of Nazareth is the Messiah, why does He not 
take the throne of His father David and begin His Kingdom 
reign? The 110th psalm gives the answer. He was to go to 
heaven first and sit upon His Father's throne. He was to 
wait 'there for the promised Kingdom while His enemies are 
in opposition to Him. How perfect the Word of God is! 

Here, then, was perfect proof, perfect evidence of the 
rejected One being the promised Messiah, raised from the 
dead, seated in Glory, waiting for the Kingdom, the throne 
of His father David. The Holy Spirit witnessed to all this. 

Solemnly brief is the summing up and the appeal. "Let 
the whole house of Israel therefore know' assuredly that 
God has made Him, this Jesus whom ye have crucified, 
both Lord and Christ." The crucified One is Lord and 
Christ. This was the great theme of Peter's address on the 
day of Pentecost. And this is still the great and blessed 
theme of the Gospel, which, whenever it is preached, has 
the power of God with it: Christ died — Christ arose — 
Christ is Lord — Christ is in Glory — Christ is coming again. 

IV. The Results of the Delivered Testimony. 

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, 
and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and 
brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, 
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ 
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and 
to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall 
call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, 
saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then 
they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same 



61 



day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 
(Verses 37-41.) 

Such were the wonderful results. It could not be other- 
wise. The Word had been preached. The Holy Spirit car- 
ried it home with convicting power to the hearts of the 
hearers. Before His ascension the Lord had left the promise 
to his disciples that they were to receive power with the 
gift of the Spirit. This power to witness had been bestowed 
upon the disciples and was fully manifested in Peter's bold 
testimony. The Holy Spirit backed it with His mighty power 
and the hearts and consciences of the hearers were pierced. 
They were convicted, after hearing all these words, of the 
great sin which had been committed by them in the rejection 
of Jesus. The guilt had been fully demonstrated, and now 
they cried out in terror: "Brethren, what shall we do?" 

There is not a moment's delay in answering the great 
question. The divinely given instruction comes at once 
from Peter's lips. Repentance and baptism stand out very 
prominently in this answer to the conscience-stricken Jews, 
and attached to it is the promise of the remission of sins and 
the gift of the Holy Spirit. These words not being correctly 
understood, have led to much confusion. Upon these words 
doctrines, especially concerning water baptism, have been 
built, which are not alone nowhere else taught in the Bible, 
but which are opposed to the Gospel. The words of Peter 
to his Jewish brethren have been used to make water-baptism 
a saving ordinance, that only by submission to water-bap- 
tism, with repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus, can remis- 
sion of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit be obtained. We 
do not enlarge upon these unscriptural conceptions nor con- 
trovert the utterly false doctrine of "baptismal regeneration," 
but rather, point out briefly what these words of Peter 
mean. We must bear in mind that Peter addressed those 
who had openly rejected Jesus. They had, therefore, also 
openly to acknowledge their wrong and thus openly own Him 



62 



as Messiah, whom they had disowned by delivering Him 
into the hands of lawless men. Repentance meant for them 
to own their guilt in having opposed and rejected Jesus. Bap- 
tism in the name of Jesus Christ (in which it differs from 
the baptism of John) was the outward expression of that re- 
pentance. It was for these Jews, therefore, a preliminary 
necessity. And here we must not forget that Peter's preach- 
ing on the day of Pentecost had it still to do with the kingdom, 
as we shall more fully learn from his second address in the 
third chapter. Another offer of the kingdom was made to 
the nation. The great fact that the Holy Spirit had begun 
to form the body of Christ, the church, as stated before, 
was not revealed then. In this national testimony the word 
"repent" stands in the foreground, and their baptism in the 
name of Him whom they had crucified was a witness that 
they owned Him now and believed on Him. As soon as we 
leave the first part of this book in which Peter's preaching 
to the Jews is prominent, we find the word repentance no 
longer in the foreground; all the emphasis is upon "believe."* 
The Gospel in all its blessed fullness as revealed to the great 
apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, which he called "my Gospel," 
and as preached by him, makes "faith" — "believe" as prom- 
inent as Peter's preaching "repent." 

Remission of sins and the gift of the Holy. Spirit comes 
by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In connection with the 
Jews, baptism was a condition. There is no such condition 
for Gentiles. The case of Cornelius and those who were 
assembled in his house to whom Peter preached the Gospel, 
illustrates this fully. He had not mentioned a word about 
baptism for the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy 
Spirit. When he had declared that through "His Name" 
whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins, 
his address was cut short; "the Holy Spirit fell on all them 



*Of course faith and repentance are inseparably connected. 



63 



which heard the Word" (chapter x:44). This clearly proves 
that baptism in water has nothing to do with the gift of the 
Holy Spirit to these believing Gentiles. Water baptism 
followed in their case. He commanded them to be baptized 
in the name of the Lord. "For the Jews who had openly 
rejected the Lord, baptism is always pre-requisite; they 
must openly own Him whom they had disowned." The 
entire setting aside of ordinances in the case of the Gentiles 
at once destroys the ritualistic teaching as to baptism. 
According to this ritualistic teaching Cornelius must have 
received the Spirit while in an unregenerate condition, for 
he had not yet received "the sacrament of regeneration!"* 

Peter told his hearers that the promise (remission of sins 
and the gift of the Spirit) is for them and their children. 
Blessed assurance to them and their offspring! Theirs are 
still the promises (Rom. ix:l-5). In a future day the 
Spirit will be poured out upon them, after their great na- 
tional repentance, when they will mourn for Him (Zechariah 
xii:9-14; Ezekiel xxxix:29). But the promise is also to 
them who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall 
call. Those afar off are the Gentiles. Peter, no doubt, 
could not fully realize the far-reaching meaning of this utter- 
ance. The Holy Spirit put these words into His mouth, 
but Peter did not understand then that the far-off Gentiles 
were to participate in the gift of the Spirit and become 
fellow heirs. To make it possible for him to go to the Gen- 
tiles the Lord had to give him a special vision. But the 
statement that the promise is to those who are far off, to 
as many as the Lord shall call, is otherwise significant. It 
shows that not all the Gentiles are to be brought into the 
one body, that not all the Gentiles will accept God's gracious 
offer during the age which began with Pentecost. Those 
who received the word were baptized, and in that day about 
three thousand were added. 

♦Numerical Bible, Acts p. 24. 



64 



It is not correct to speak of this as a fulfillment of the 
prediction in the 1 10th Psalm, as it has been done repeatedly. 
There it says: "Thy people shall be willing in the day of 
thy power." The day of Pentecost was not that promised 
"day of His power." Nor is this age the age when He 
manifests His power. When He returns in power and in 
glory, the day of His power begins and then His earthly 
people will be a willing people. What took place on Pen- 
tecost was only the earnest of what shall yet take place 
amongst that nation. 

io\ <noijibnoo 9:f£"i onagri ntf an ni »Iidw Jniq8 srb bsvhom 
V. The Gathered Company in Fellowship. 

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and 
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear 
came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done 
by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had 
all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and 
parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, 
continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking 
bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and 
singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the 
people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should 
be saved. (Verses 42-47.) 

About three thousand had been added. We ask, added 
to what? Certainly to the company of the believers, which 
by the baptism of the Holy Spirit had been formed into 
one body. And now we learn at the close of this great chap- 
ter, that the church, or assembly, yet unrevealed, was indeed 
in existence. It is a most precious scene which is pictured 
to us in the above words. It shows the energy of the Holy 
Spirit in uniting these believers into one body, gathered 
together around the blessed person of the Lord. All is a 
simple testimony to the fact that the church did begin with 
this great event which transpired on Pentecost. While Peter 
gave that great testimony to the people, concerning the re- 
jected, crucified and risen Jesus, that He is Lord and Christ, 



65 



those who repented, having believed the message, were 
added by the Spirit to the body. 

In the foreground of the description of this happy, gath- 
ered company stands the fact that they "persevered in the 
apostles' doctrine." There was need of instruction and the 
Lord had given command that the apostles were to teach 
(Matt. xxviii:20). The teaching of the apostles must, of 
course, have been concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. They 
were, as revealed later, the foundation of the great spiritual 
building (Eph. ii:20). That teaching is placed in the first 
place shows its great importance. True fellowship and prayer 
as well as right living, is only possible in the truth. Through- 
out the epistles, which concern the church, doctrine is always 
the first thing. One of the last exhortations the Holy Spirit 
gave through Paul, is an exhortation to be true to right teach- 
ing. "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast 
heard of me, in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 
i: 13)." Almost one of the last words in this epistle Paul 
wrote from the Roman prison predicts the departure from 
the doctrine of Christ. "For the time will come when 
they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own 
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching 
ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth 
and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Tim. iv:45). This is 
exactly what we see about us in the present day. An unre- 
coverable apostasy has set in and the true doctrine, the faith 
delivered unto the saints, has been given up. In accepting 
the teaching of the apostles they were in fellowship together. 
But the fellowship which they possessed and enjoyed was 
expressed in a special way. It was expressed "in the break- 
ing of bread." Some expositors of this book make this 
"breaking of bread" a common meal. 

A learned expositor, after a lengthy discussion on the 
phrase "breaking of bread," as used by the Jews, concludes 
by saying, "The breaking of bread must not be understood 



66 



by their eating together, but of the Eucharist (the Lord's 
Supper); which the Syriac interpreter does render so in 
express terms; a parallel to which we have in 1 Cor. x: 16 
and Acts xx: 7." 

It was the carrying out of the request which the blessed 
Lord had uttered during that memorable night in the pres- 
ence of His disciples, "Do this in remembrance of Me." 
It is significant that we find this mentioned at once in this 
great historical book. The Holy Spirit having come to glor- 
ify Christ, did exactly what the Lord had foretold. "But 
the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send 
in my Name, He shall teach you all things and bring all 
things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto 
you" (John xiv:26). One of the first things He brought 
to the remembrance of the disciples was the loving, tender 
request the Lord had made when He had broken the bread, 
foretelling the giving of His holy body, and handed them 
the cup filled with wine, the emblem of the precious blood 
to be shed. At that time they knew not what it all meant. 
But now the sufferings were ended; Christ had risen from 
the dead and returned to the Father. The Holy Spirit had 
come and opened their understanding. United by Him 
they met, as it seems for a time at least, daily, to break the 
bread and to pass the cup in remembrance of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Inasmuch as the Holy Spirit led to this ;at once 
He signified by it how pleasing it is to Him to remember the 
dying love of the Son of God. 

And if we had been there we would have beheld a simple 
gathering. No long robed priests officiating, no preparatory 
service, no ritual; nothing of the other things which tra- 
dition has connected with communion and by which the 
request of the Lord has been so completely obscured. They 
were just together praising God; exercising their holy priest- 
hood by giving thanks in His Name. Then some one, 
moved by the Holy Spirit would arise and give thanks and 



67 



break the bread, of which all partook, and the same was done 
with the cup, which passed from hand to hand. 

It must have been this breaking of bread which kept 
them close to the Lord and which kept His Person 
and His great love ever fresh before their hearts. There 
is no command given anywhere how often the Lord's 
supper is to be observed. Elsewhere .we find that they 
came together on the first day of the week to break bread 
(Chapter xx:7). No doubt that was the custom in the 
assemblies at that time. Is it too much to carry out His 
loving request every Lord's Day, the day on which He 
left the grave? It is a sad evidence of the spiritual con- 
dition of Christendom, the way the request of the Lord 
is ignored. How grieving this must be to the Spirit of 
God. And what shall one say of such, who had the knowl- 
edge of the preciousness and simplicity of all this and 
who have given up the Lord's Supper altogether because 
they believe it is an ordinance of the Kingdom. 

Then prayer is mentioned. They had their prayer 
meetings in which they prayed to God in the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. " Those about them greatly feared." 
The power of God was manifested in the gathered company; 
besides this many signs and wonders were wrought through 
the Apostles. 

Then we find something additional. They had all things 
common and sold their possessions and goods. This was 
peculiar to Jerusalem and was an additional testimony 
to the existence of the one body, that they were members 
one of another. It was like a great happy family, which 
in reality they were through the Grace of God. It has 
often been attempted to reproduce these conditions, which 
has invariably led to great failure and dishonor to the Lord 
and the cause of Christ. All this was perfectly in order 
in the beginning in Jerusalem. We believe it was arranged 
just in that way to give at once the strongest possible picture 



68 

of that into which the united gathered company had been 
formed — one body. 

They also went to the temple with one accord. In this 
they fulfilled but their great mission of being a testimony 
to the nation. The breaking of bread, however, was car- 
ried on in the house (not from house to house); in this 
respect they were outside of the camp. 

And how happy they were! They had Christ, and that 
was enough. No system of theology, creeds, set of forms 
or any such thing, with which historical Christianity 
abounds — " Nothing but Christ." They received their 
food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God 
and having favor with all the people. Joy and singleness 
of heart are the two great characteristics of the true be- 
liever. r . &3 oao Hsjfa jbHw bnA .boO 

The good work went on. Many more were added to 
the assembly. They were added not by the efforts of 
themselves, by all kinds of methods, as it is done in our 
days to increase " church membership," but the LORD 
added to the assembly. He alone can add to that body 
of which He Himself is the head. Some have translated 
" Added daily those being saved." There is no need of 
doing this. It is correct — "Those that were to be saved." 
All those who were added by the Lord daily were true 
believers and as such they were saved. And yet they 
also were to be saved. The clouds of judgment were fast 
gathering over Jerusalem and over the nation; all who 
were added to the assembly were to be saved out of the 
judgment soon to fall upon that nation. 

Thus ends the great and blessed chapter, the historical 
record of the advent of the Holy Spirit and the birthday 
of the church. ri S oi ^ vMsnfivni serf 

lobio ni ytaahaq bbw Mi iiA .JahdO lo aausD 9 rfj bne 
banana ssw ii o j'Sihd oW .mslsaum^ at ^ninnrgad sill ni 
aiimiq aldiaaoq isognoiJa srLr Doao jb svig oi v^w 3&dl ni uM 



69 



Jnioq oi xh)Ri&q^ zaoiioss aaaril to doss qu eAzi sW 

.aoiulBsi gnibfioi arb lo amoa 3no 

.njsm ©jcrusf sift lo gxiHssrf srlT .1 

LhAriJlK 111. 

marfr lo sink iss ol JuhjujjsS balko si rfoirfw olqrna} srto lo 9l£2 
After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the begin- 
ning of the church on earth we find in this book the rec- 
ord of a second address given by the Apostle Peter. This 
utterance is Jewish and national, that is, an appeal to 
the nation to repent and to accept the rejected Jesus as the 
Christ. Connected with this solemn 'appeal is the promise 
of national blessing. Peter promises by the Spirit of God 
" times of refreshing " and " the restoration of all things," 
two expressions, which describe the kingdom as promised 
to Israel in the Old Testament. The condition upon which 
this promise of national blessing is made by Peter is the 
repentance and conversion of the nation. The second 
coming of the Lord Jesus is likewise mentioned by the 
Apostle. His second coming will result in the times of 
refreshing and the restitution of all things. This other 
testimony was occasioned by the healing of the lame man. 
But we must look at all this more closely. 

The chapter is clearly divided into two parts: the heal- 
ing of the lame man and the address of Peter. The first 
verses of the fourth chapter belong to the third chapter. 
We make therefore the following division: 

I. The healing of the lame man (Chapter iii:l-ll). 

DdOqiiJCJ UluJ lOl D31CIXTID38B 31C£03C[ 3fi 1 .ISVjnO hn£ 3Drrn 

II. Peter's address and appeal (Verses 12-26). 

III. Their arrest (Chapter iv:l-3). 

IV. The blessed results of the given testimony (Chapter 
iv :4) . 



70 



We take up each of these sections separately to point 
out some of the leading features. 

I. The healing of the lame man. 

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the 
hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame 
from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the 
gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them 
that entered into the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to 
go into the temple, asked an alms. (Verses 1-3.) 

It is not stated when this occurred. It could have been 
hardly on the same day on which the Holy Spirit came; 
it must have been a short time afterwards. Peter ap- 
pears again upon the foreground as the leader. Though 
John was with him, there is no record of a single word 
which he spoke. Later we read once more of John when 
he went with Peter to Samaria. If a human pen had written 
the Acts of the Apostles, John, no doubt, would have been 
more frequently mentioned.* 

Peter was the chosen instrument to preach the Gospel 
to the circumcision and deliver to the nation this new 
message of repentance. He is the leading figure through- 
out the first part of the Book of Acts. Both Peter and 
John went together into the temple. Though the Holy 
Spirit had come and filled them and separated them from 
the nation as such, giving them a new position, yet they 
still continued in their Jewish customs and observances. 
All this was for a purpose as long as God's mercy lingered 
over Jerusalem. The hour when they went up was the 
ninth hour, three in the afternoon, the usual hour for sac- 
rifice and prayer. The people assembled for this purpose 
in the part of the temple called "the Court of the Women," 
because women were only permitted to go so far and were 

*This is the case in "The Mythological Acts of the Apostles," an 
old work composed of traditions concerning the Apostles. 



71 



never allowed to go beyond. This court, 135 cubits square, 
was generally thronged with people at the ninth hour. The 
entrance to it was through a magnificent gate covered with 
bronze. To this place the Apostles went. 

At the same time a lame man, who had been in this 
condition from his birth, was being carried towards that 
beautiful gate. There they laid him down in his helpless 
condition that he might beg from those who entered in. 
Daily he was to be seen; most likely for many years 
had he been there. Then he must have seen the Lord as 
He went to the temple and the miracles He did; yet this 
helpless beggar had not been healed. He reminds us vividly 
of that other lame man, who laid in the five porches and 
whom the Lord healed (John v). From the chapter which 
follows we learn that this lame man at the temple gate 
was forty years old. His condition and position is typical of 
the moral condition of the nation. Like this man, Israel 
was helpless with all its beautiful religious ceremonies, lay- 
ing outside, with no strength to enter in. The age of the 
lame man finds a similar application; forty is the number 
of testing. The nation's condition as helpless, unable to 
walk in the statutes and laws of God, without strength, 
outside, and a beggar, is therefore fully picture in this lame 
man. 

And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look 
on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive some- 
thing of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I nonej 
but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of 
Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, 
and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones re- 
ceived strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and 
entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and 
praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising 
God: and they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the 
Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder 
and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And 
as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the 



72 



people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, 

greatly wondering. (Verses 5-11.) 

The beggar had stretched out his hands to receive some- 
thing from the two apostles. What prompted Peter and 
John to notice this lame man among the many others, who 
were there begging as he did, is not mentioned. Some have 
suggested that there was a special look and appeal in his 
eyes which attracted the two servants of the Lord. Did 
perhaps the lame man recognize them from former visits 
to the temple when they came as the followers of Jesus of 
Nazareth? We believe it was the Holy Spirit who directed 
Peter and John to look steadfastly upon him. The glori- 
fied Christ was about to act in His gracious power; the two 
apostles filled with His Spirit were His chosen and willing 
instruments. 

Peter's word had been, Look on us. Obediently, the 
eyes of the lame man rest upon them. His expectation up 
to this point was to receive some help from their hands. 
He was indeed to receive something, but a far greater gift 
than he could have imagined. Silver and gold Peter de- 
clared he had not, but he had something else in store for him. 
He now speaks in that blessed Name, which is above every 
other Name, in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, to 
rise up and to walk. It was then that faith was 'exercised by 
the lame man in that Name. The power of God is at once 
manifested. Peter takes hold of him and raised him up 
and immediately, not gradually, but without a moment's 
delay, his feet and ankle bones were made strong. The 
power of God in answer to that precious Name had come 
upon the lame man and he was instantly healed. He then 
walked and leaped and entered through the beautiful gate 
as a worshipper into the temple to praise God. What a sight 
it must have been! 

But why was this miracle wrought at this time? It was 
wrought as another evidence for the unbelieving people that 



73 



Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had rejected and delivered 
into the hands of the Gentiles, is the Messiah and their 
King. It was an evidence that He who hung on the cross 
and had been laid into the tomb is living in heaven and that 
God's omnipotent power was revealed in answer to that Name 
whom they had hated without a cause. God had promised 
to Israel His people a Kingdom, the blessings and glories 
of which prophet after prophet had announced. It was not 
to be a spiritual Kingdom, but a literal one, with the King 
of Righteousness ruling in the midst of them. One great 
Kingdom prophecy in the Old Testament mentions the lame 
man, too. "Then shall the lame man leap as an hart" 
(Isaiah xxxv:6). When the King, the Son of David, the 
Immanuel, had appeared in their midst, preaching the near- 
ness of that kingdom, He manifested His kingly divine 
power, and the blind saw, the deaf heard and the lame 
walked. The people rejected Him. And now once more 
an offer of that Kingdom is to be made to the people. But 
before the Apostle Peter gives the message he received from 
the Lord, the rejected One, who had taken His place upon 
His Father's throne manifests His power once more in the 
healing of the lame man. 

And as this lame man had been perfectly healed, that he 
not alone walked, but leaped, with songs of praises on his 
lips, entering the temple, so the Lord was ready and willing 
to heal His people. The lame man so wonderfully healed, 
leaping and praising God, is a picture of what the whole 
nation will be in a future day, when they will look upon 
Him whom they have pierced (Zechariah xii: 10). God's 
promise to them, still unfulfilled, is: "I will put my Spirit 
within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye 
shall keep my judgment and do them" (Ezekiel xxxvi:27). 
Then will the remnant of His people break forth in singing. 
"In that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise Thee; 
though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned 



74 



away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salva- 
tion; I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is 
my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation" 
(Isaiah xii: 1-6). "And the ransomed of the Lord shall re- 
turn and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon 
their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow 
and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah xxxv: 10). The com- 
motion in the temple was great after this miracle had taken 
place. There could be no mistake about it. The man who 
had been healed was too well known by the multitude. They 
recognized him at once. It was the same familiar face, 
which they had seen again and again at the temple gate. 
What a change had taken place! His helplessness was com- 
pletely removed and he leaped along. Instead of the miser- 
able cry of the mendicant, his lips shouted the praises of 
God. A large multitude came together, greatly wondering. 
And now Peter opens his lips to speak to the people. 

II. Peter's Second Address. 

And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men 
of Israel, why marvel ye at this or why look ye so earnestly on 
us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this 
man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, 
the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye 
delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he 
was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the 
Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed 
the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof 
we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in his name, 
hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the 
faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the 
presence of you all. (Verses 12-16.) 

This second address of Peter is characterized by a great 
calmness. He was not carried away by the great excitement 
of the astonished multitude. He does not see why they 
should be astonished at what had happened to the lame 



75 



man. For some time greater miracles than the healing of 
the blind man had been wrought in the midst of them. 
One had walked among them who had rebuked the demons, 
opened the eyes of the blind, healed all manners of diseases 
and raised the dead. Why should they be so astonished at 
the healing of the lame man? 

But they not only gazed with astonishment upon the 
healed beggar, they also looked with wondering eyes upon 
the apostles themselves, as if they themselves by their own 
power or worth performed the healing. This, Peter dis- 
claims. It was God Himself, who had glorified His servant 
Jesus in the healing of this man. Every word Peter utters, 
inbreathed by the Holy Spirit, shows the national Jewish 
character of the address. The Apostle does not speak of God 
as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, but as the God of 
Abraham, and of Isaac and Jacob. This is God's Name in 
connection with His covenant people. In vain do we look 
for this name of God in the rest of the New Testament. For 
us, as believers, God's Name is revealed as "Our God and 
our Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
Then of the Lord, Peter speaks as "His Servant Jesus." 
The authorized version has "son" instead of servant; but 
that is wrong. Peter, indeed, knew the Lord as the Son of 
the living God, for he had confessed Him thus at Caesarea 
Philippi. The Spirit of God, however, did not suffer him to 
use the word Son here. It was reserved for another Apostle 
to make known the full Glory and Sonship, both eternal and 
by resurrection from the dead, that is, through the Apostle 
Paul. The first time we find the Lord Jesus Christ preached 
as Son of God is in Acts ix: 20, and the converted Saul of Tar- 
sus is the preacher. Acts viii: 30, where Philip asks the Eu- 
nuch if he believes in the Son of God is an interpolation and 
must be omitted. In connection with the earth and His 
people Israel, the Lord is "the servant of God." As such He 
was predicted and described by Isaiah (chapter xlii) and other 



76 



prophets. That servant had been in the midst of His people 
and Jesus, the Nazarene, was that servant. The God of 
their Fathers had witnessed to it by healing the lame man; 
in it God had glorified His servant Jesus. 

But what had they done unto that Servant of Jehovah? 
All their guilt is flashed forth once more. They had deliv- 
ered Him, and though a Gentile, convinced of His inno- 
cence, wanted to let Him go, they had denied Him. That 
Servant of God was more than innocent, the Holy One and 
the Righteous One He was and they had denied such a one 
and chosen a murderer in His place; the Author of Life 
(Greek: the originator of life; what a title of our blessed 
Lord!) they had slain. The entire story of their wickedness 
and guilt is briefly rehearsed and pressed home to their 
hearts by the Holy Spirit. Could any one of them deny 
these historical facts? 

It is a significant fact that at this time many attempts 
are being made by the Jews to shift the responsibility of 
the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ upon some one 
else. The strange thing is that rabbis who attempt to dis- 
prove the New Testament record of the part the Jewish 
people played in the death of the Lord are sometimes ad- 
mitted into evangelical churches to lay their arguments 
before Christian people. Recently we received a pamphlet 
from a rabbi, in which an attempt is made to show that the 
Jewish people at that time had no share in the death of 
Christ. Instead of confessing the sin of the nation and the 
sin of the rejection of the Holy One they try to justify 
themselves. But the day will come when they will truly 
mourn for Him as one mourneth for an only son (Zechariah 
xii: 11-13). 

Peter likewise refers to the resurrection. God had raised 
him from the dead and they were the witnesses of His resur- 
rection. Then we hear of His Name as the power which 
had made the man strong and gave to him this complete 



77 



soundness. The power of God had therefore been witnessed 
by them. 

Here we mention briefly the fact that healing of this kind 
was perfectly in order in connection with the preaching we 
have here. Nowhere do we read that in connection with 
the church the gift of healing should be continued. That 
the Lord has the same power to heal, that His Name is as 
powerful as ever, none can doubt. 

And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as 
did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had 
shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, 
he hath so fulfilled. (Verses 17-18.) 

What tenderness and mercy breathe in these words! He 
addresses them as brethren, but in a different sense as the 
word brethren is used in the church epistles. As a member 
of the same nation Peter addressed them thus and offers 
them mercy. Their guilt could not be denied. All was true 
what Peter had just uttered; but God in His great mercy 
is ready to treat their great sin as a sin of ignorance. The 
Lord had prayed on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for 
they know not what they do." And God was now ready to 
answer this prayer.* Though they had cried: "His blood 
be upon us and our children," God, in His mercy, delayed 
the carrying out of this awful wish, uttered by them in their 
blindness. If they accepted this offered mercy, all their 
guilt would have been wiped out, but if they rejected and 
did not repent of what they had done, they set themselves 
wilfully against God and Him whom He had sent. And Peter 
now makes His appeal and gives them the promise of God's 
mercy. 

g/md 3 1 .883ibbfi aid \o sqooa sill rfoiw gniqaa^ JasHsq ni b'i 
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may 

be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from 



*The application of the Cities of Refuge, to which one who had 
slain a man unwittingly could flee, can easily be made (Joshua xx). 



n 



the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ j which 
before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive 
until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken 
by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Verses 
19-21.) 

These are very interesting words and of great importance. 
They can only be understood in the right way if we do not 
lose sight of the fact to whom they were addressed, that is 
to Jews, and not to Gentiles. They are the heart of this 
discourse, and as such a God-given appeal and promise to 
the nation. If this is lost sight of, the words must lose their 
right meaning. The repentance which is demanded of them 
is an acknowledgment of the wrong they had done in deny- 
ing the Holy and righteous One, a confession of, their blood- 
guiltiness in having slain the author of life. This, of course, 
would result in their conversion and the blotting out of their 
sins as a nation. This God had promised before to the na- 
tion. "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions 
for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins" (Isaiah 
xliii: 25). Anticipating that glorious day in which this shall 
be accomplished, a day still to come, the prophet spoke the 
following glorious words: "I have blotted out, as a thick 
cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins; return 
unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for 
the Lord has done it; shout ye lower parts of the earth; 
break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest and every 
tree therein; for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified 
Himself in Israel" (Isaiah xliv: 22-23). 

It is significant that in His second address Peter has 
nothing more to say about the gift of the Holy Spirit. This 
is in perfect keeping with the scope of his address. It being 
national, the blotting out of the sins of that people is men- 
tioned first, and in the next place, the times of refreshing 
and the second coming of the same Jesus who had been 
received into heaven. The Holy Spirit had been given and 



79 



that for the formation of the church, the body of Christ* 
The present address of Peter has it to do exclusively 
with the nation and their future, therefore the Holy Spirit, 
as He came on the day of Pentecost, is not mentioned. 
However, the promise of the Spirit in a future outpouring 
upon that nation is included in the promise, "the times of 
refreshing." 

This term means a future time of blessing which is in 
store for God's earthly people. The other expression used, 
"the times of the restitution of all things" means practically 
the same as the times of refreshing. In these two expressions 
the Holy Spirit gathers together the hundreds of promises 
He gave through the different prophets of God, concerning 
a time of great blessing for His people and through them for 
the nations of the world. It would be impossible to mention 
all these promises and in what the times of refreshing and 
restoration of all things consist. These days of a coming 
age, the kingdom age, or as we call it, because its duration 
will be a thousand years, the Millennium, are fully described 
on the pages of Old Testament prophecy. Not alone will 
the nation be blessed, but Jerusalem will be a great city, the 
land will be restored and become the great center for bless- 
ing; the nations of the earth will receive blessing and groan- 
ing creation will be delivered from its groaning, and the curse 
which rests upon it. If we interpret the Word of Proph- 
ecy literally and cease spiritualizing it, we shall have no 
difficulty to behold the full meaning of the times of refresh- 
ing and the restitution of all things. The latter word does not 
include a restoration of the wicked dead, a second chance for 
those who passed out of this life in an unsaved condition. 
A false teaching refers to this passage as one of the argu- 
ments for the restoration of the wicked dead, including even 
Sodom and Gomorrah. But when did ever a prophet of 
God teach the restitution of the wicked dead? The prophets 
predicted the restoration of all things, but that restoration 



80 



is clearly defined as concerning the things on the earth and 
not the beings which' have passed out of this life. 

Not only in the Old Testament do we find a description 
of what is to come for Israel, the nations and creation, but 
elsewhere in the New Testament these times of refreshing 
and restoration of all things are clearly indicated. See 
Matthew xix:28; Romans viii:19-23; Ephesians i: 10, etc. 
But between these two words of promise of what shall be 
Israel's portion if they repent, stands another fact: It is the 
second coming of Jesus Christ. This is a great fundamental 
passage of that great doctrine, the second coming of Christ. 
Peter declares that God is going to send Jesus Christ. This 
must mean a second coming. To teach this in the clear- 
est manner, he adds that the heavens received Him, but 
they will not retain Him forever. He has gone into the 
heavens till the true restoration of all things comes. The 
second coming of Christ will result in the times of refreshing 
and restoration of all things. This event is, of course, His 
visible and glorious coming back to earth again, to the 
Mount of Olives from where He ascended, and for the deliv- 
erance and blessing of His earthly people. The coming of 
the Lord for His church as revealed through the Apostle 
Paul in 1 Thessal. iv: 13-18 must be distinguished from this 
visible return to the earth. The resurrected and living saints 
will be caught up together in clouds to meet the Lord in the 
air, into which the Lord descends when He redeems His 
promise to His own: "I will come again and receive you unto 
myself." Of this Peter had no knowledge at all when he deliv- 
ered this testimony to the nation. What he speaks of is the 
coming of Christ in power and glory to establish His King- 
dom in the midst of His people to extend over the entire 
earth, so that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall 
cover the earth as the waters the deep. Of that coming proph- 
ets had spoken again and again. Indeed, it is impossible 
to separate in the prophetic Word the blessings promised 



81 



for Israel, the nations and creation and the coming of Christ 
in glory as the King of kings. 

All this is so plain that it seems almost impossible for 
any man not to see the teaching of the pre-millennial coming 
of Christ, that there can be no age of blessing, no millen- 
nium, before Christ has returned. And yet one of the most 
learned men and Bible expositor, Dr. John Lightfoot, labors 
hard to explain away the literal coming of Christ, whom the 
heavens received. The words of this learned man are the 
weakest we have ever seen. He says in his Horae Hebraeicae 
on this passage the following: "Was that Jesus, whom we 
have crucified, the true Christ? (The Jews would ask after 
hearing Peter.) Then is all our hope for refreshing by the 
Messiah vanished, because He Himself is vanished and 
gone. Then our expectation as to the consolation of Israel 
is at an end, because he who should be our consolation is 
perished. Not so (saith Peter) but the Messiah, and the 
refreshing by Him, shall be restored to you if you will repent; 
yet so that He Himself shall continue in heaven. He shall 
be sent to you in His refreshing and consolatory Word, and 
in His benefits if you repent." This great scholar allowed 
himself a great liberty with the Word of God and teaches 
the very opposite which Peter spoke to the nation. 

The offer of God through Peter and his message to the 
nation contains the great revealed purposes of God, as 
spoken by the mouth of His prophets since time began. 
Sometimes it is asked, What would have happened if the 
nation had then repented? Undoubtedly all would then 
have come to pass. In rapid succession all the events pre- 
ceding the return of the Lord as recorded in the prophets 
would have come to pass and then He would have come 
and brought the restoration of all things. This, however, 
was not in the purpose of God. He knew that Israel would 
reject this offer. The Lord had predicted it likewise. The 



82 



prophets spoke of the dispersion of the nation and a long 
period of judgment for them. 

This period is the present age, during which Israel is set 
aside nationally, and at the same time God calls out a 
people for His Name from the Gentiles, that is the church. 
This may end at any time. We are living in significant 
days, surrounded by signs which herald the speedy ending 
of this present age. Then, once more, after the completion 
and removal of the church from earth, will Israel hear the 
message concerning the Kingdom. There will then be the 
repentance of a national remnant, the return of the Lord 
Jesus Christ and the times of refreshing and restoration of 
all things as the result of His coming. 

For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the 
Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; 
him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 
And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which wil not hear 
that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, 
and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as 
many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye 
are the children of the prophets,, and of the covenant which God 
made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed 
shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, 
having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning 
away every one of you from his iniquities. (Verses 22-26 ) 

Next Peter mentions Moses, whom the nation held in 
such great reverence that they called him, and still do so, 
"Mpses our teacher." Moses had spoken in Deuteronomy 
of another prophet whom the Lord would raise up. God 
promised that He would put His words into the mouth of the 
prophet. "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will 
not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, 
I will require it of him." (Deut. xviii: 19). The one of whom 
Moses spoke, one greater than himself, was none other than 
Christ. That prophet had spoken and they had not heard. 



83 



The threatening Word of the Lord was over them as a 
nation. 

Then he reminds them of the testimonies of the prophets 
beginning with Samuel, who all had announced these days. 
He closes with an appeal, telling them that they are the sons 
of the prophets and of the covenant and that it is first to 
them that God had raised His servant up. He was ready 
to bless them and turn every one from their iniquity. 

This second address of Peter is much shorter than the one 
delivered by him on the day of Pentecost and yet the brief 
words, which took a few minutes to deliver, contain the 
greatest truths. The Name of the Lord is mentioned by 
Peter in seven different forms, as the Servant of God, the 
Holy One, the Righteous One, the Author of Life, the 
Christ of God, the Prophet and the Seed of Abraham. 
Repentance, Conversion, the Blotting out of sins, the sec- 
ond coming of Christ, the coming age and its blessing, be- 
sides the suffering, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus 
Christ are stated. 

But would they heed these solemn words? Do we hear 
the multitude crying out, "What shall we do?" Do they 
bow in true repentance? The address of Peter and the 
words of John, which the Holy Spirit has not put on record, 
were not finished, when an interruption took place. While 
they were yet speaking something happened. This we read 
in the next paragraph, with which the fourth chapter begins. 

III. Their Arrest. 

And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain 
of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved 
that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the 
resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and 
put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. 
(Chapter iv:l-3). 

The large number of people, the news of the healing of 



84 



the lame man and that the two men were addressing the 
people in Solomon's porch, attracted the attention of the 
priests and the captain of the temple. The latter was a 
leading figure in the temple with much authority; it is 
probable that he had a rank next to the high priest. The 
enemy begins now his acts and the first indication is given 
that the oifer God's mercy was making to the nation would 
not be accepted. The Holy Spirit was acting mightily 
through the spoken Word, but these ecclesiastical leaders 
were hardening their hearts against the Word and the 
Spirit of God. The hate against that blessed Name broke 
out anew under the satanic power to which they had yielded. 
Soon it became evident that blindness is to become their por- 
tion. And the Sadducees came too. Though not much has 
been said on the resurrection, yet these rationalists, or as we 
would call them today, "higher critics," were much distressed 
because they preached Jesus and the resurrection. The next 
step is the arrest and imprisonment of the two apostles. 
Rough hands seize them. Persecution began. Of the 
Apostles we read nothing else. They submitted. The power 
of the Holy Spirit now manifested itself in a new way with 
them. They could suffer and perhaps with great joy, in 
perfect peace, they allowed themselves to be taken away. 

IV. The Result of the Testimony. 

Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the 
number of the men was about five thousand. (Verse 4.) 

Their labor had not been in vain. God's power had accom- 
panied the Word; a remnant heard and believed. The men 
are numbered and that is specifically a Jewish thing and a 
feature of the Kingdom. This is the last time that the con- 
verts are numbered. There can be no numbering in this 
church age; no one knows the number of the members of 
the body of Christ, but God only. The numbering is only 



85 



on Kingdom ground. In the Gospels we have two miracu- 
lous draughts of fishes. The one in the Gospel of Luke before 
the cross where the net broke and the fishes were not num- 
bered refers to the present age. The one in the Gospel of 
John after the resurrection of Christ, with Peter as leader, 
when the net did not break and the fishes are numbered, 
refers to the Kingdom. 



86 



CHAPTER IV. 

The first few verses of this chapter giving the record of 
the arrest of the Apostles we expounded in connection with 
the third chapter to which they properly belong. What 
became of Peter and John, their appearing before the eccle- 
siastical authorities and final release, their return to their 
own company is given in the rest of this chapter. We medi- 
tate on it briefly, dividing the chapter into five parts. 

I. Peter and John before the rulers, elders, scribes and 
high -priestly family (Verses 5-7). 

II. Peter's bold witness (Verses 8-12). 

III. The astonishment of the Sanhedrim, the release of 
the Apostles (Verses 13-22). 

IV. With their own company, their praise and prayer 

(Verses 23-31). 

V. The saved multitude one heart and one soul (Verses 
32-37). 

1. Peter and John before the rulers. 

And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, 
and scribes, and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John 
and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high 
priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had 
set them in the midst, they asked. By what power, or by what 
name, have ye done this? (Verses 5-7.) 

The company before whom they were to appear was the 
Sanhedrim, the same before which the Lord had also ap- 
peared. They were gathered in Jerusalem; perhaps the dif- 



87 



ferent members which were some distance from the city were 
summoned to meet in the city. Besides Annas and Caiaphas, 
John and Alexander are mentioned. Nothing definite is 
known about these two persons. They were most likely 
relations of the high priest. Another view is that the John 
mentioned is a priest who was famous at that time, Rabban 
Jochanan Ben Zaccai. He lived to a very old age, and it is 
said of him that forty years before the destruction of Jeru- 
salem, when the gates of the temple flew open of their own 
accord, he predicted that the temple was to be destroyed 
by fire. Before this company, who no doubt had all gazed 
in the face of the Lord when He stood before them, the 
two Apostles had to appear. 

We have here the first fulfillment of the many predictions 
given by our Lord that His beloved disciples were to suffer 
persecutions. "Remember the word that I said unto you, the 
servant is not greater than His Lord. If they have perse- 
cuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept 
My saying, they will keep yours also" (John xv:20). "Be- 
hold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye 
therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But 
beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, 
and they will scourge you in their synagogues" (Matt, x: 16, 
17). "But take heed to yourselves; for they shall deliver 
you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten; 
and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, 
for a testimony against them" (Mark xiii: 9). They had to 
appear before the council in fulfillment of these predictions. 
Beaten they were later. In the fifth chapter we read how 
all the twelve were brought before them, then they were 
beaten (verse 40), and later other deeds of violence were 
committed against them. But while these predictions of our 
Lord were fulfilled then and throughout this entire age, a 
special end fulfillment is yet to come as it will be seen from 
the context in Matthew x and Mark xiii. During the great 



88 



tribulation with which this age closes Jewish disciples will 
witness as they did in the beginning and then they will suffer 
once more as did the Apostles and the Jewish Christians. 

Peter and John must have remembered all these words 
spoken by their departed Lord. The Holy Spirit brought 
them to their remembrance and filled them with joy and 
peace. What a privilege theirs was to appear before this 
ecclesiastical court before which the Lord had appeared! 
Then, too, the, same question which the chief priests and 
elders had asked the Lord (Luke xx: 1, 2) was now put to 
them by the same men. 

II. Peter's Bold Witness. 

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers 
of the people, and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of 
the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is 
made whole; be it known unto you all, and to all the people of 
Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye 
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this * 
man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was 
set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the 
corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none 
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must 
be saved. (Verses 8-12.) 

Here we have another accomplishment of what the Lord 
had said. "But when they shall lead you and deliver you 
up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither 
do ye premeditate; but whatsoever shall be given you in 
that hour, that speak ye, for it is not ye that speak, but the 
Holy Spirit." Even so it was here. Peter was filled with the 
Holy Spirit as he arose to answer. The Holy Spirit then 
filled him and spoke through him. This third address of 
Peter reported in this book is as bold and clear as the pre- 
vious addresses. How else could it be for he was but the 
mouthpiece of the third person of the Godhead, God the 
Holy Spirit. It is the briefest address and contains in the 



89 



original only ninety-two words. It took a few minutes to 
deliver, and yet how comprehensive it is. We notice seven 
things : 

1. Peter brings at once forward the deed which had been 
done, the healing of the infirm man. This was the cause 
of their arrest and he is now to make known how this man 
was made whole. He calls the deed "a good deed." They 
had done nothing evil; there was no occasion whatever for 
their arrest. 

2. The name of the Lord is next mentioned by him. 
Again He does not speak of Him as the Son of God but as 
Jesus Christ the Nazaraean; the significance of these three 
words is as simple as it is interesting. Jesus — that was His 
name as He walked amongst them; Christ — such He was 
and is now exalted to the right hand of God; the Naza- 
raean — His name as the rejected One by His own, a rejection 
which rested upon these rulers of the nation. And now 
Peter with a holy boldness accuses the assembled Sanhedrim 
that they crucified the Lord Jesus Christ: "whom ye have 
crucified." This was the truth for the Sanhedrim had con- 
demned the Lord. What a change had taken place with 
Peter. A short time ago he faced a female servant of the 
high priest, and when that girl accused him of being a fol- 
lower of the Lord Jesus Christ, he denied Him. And now 
filled with the Holy Spirit he accuses the Sanhedrim in 
presence of the high priest that, they crucified Jesus. What 
a contrast with the Peter who had feared that servant. 

3. Again the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is men- 
tioned in this witness. This was the great object of apostolic 
preaching: "God had raised Him from the dead." 

4. The infirm man had been made sound in his body 
through the name of Jesus Christ whom they had crucified. 



90 



The healing of the lame man was an evidence that the cru- 
cified One lives and that He is the Christ. The lame man 
stood there with the Apostles. This shows that when they 
were arrested, the healed one was likewise put into prison 
with them, for he stood up with Peter and John before the 
Sanhedrim. 

5. In the next place Peter quotes the Word of God. The 
Holy Spirit puts the same Scripture before these rulers, 
elders and the chief priests, which the Lord had mentioned 
in their presence. "By what authority doest thou these 
things?" the same men had asked Him, who now asked 
His disciples. And the Lord had answered them in parables 
(Matt, xxi: 23-41). At the close of His second parable, 
the Gospel of Matthew tells us, the Lord quoted the 
words to them which Peter now uses in their presence. 
"Jesus says to them, Have ye never read in the Scriptures, 
The stone which they that builded rejected, has become the 
corner stone; this is of the Lord and it is wonderful in our 
eyes? Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God 
shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation pro- 
ducing the fruits of it. And he that falls on this stone shall 
be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall it shall grind him 
to powder. And the chief priests and the Pharisees having 
heard His parables, knew that He spoke about them." 
The One Hundred and Eighteenth Psalm from which the 
verse of the rejected stone is taken, belongs to the hymn men- 
tioned in Matt. xxvi:30. It belongs to the Jewish ritual, 
known by the name of "the great Hallel," still used by the 
Jews during the Passover celebrations. But neither the 
modern nor the older Jewish expositors apply the words 
about the rejected stone to the Christ, their promised Mes- 
siah. Some say it refers to David himself, that he was the 
rejected stone and others apply it to the nation, rejected now 
but destined to be the corner stone of the nations. But the 



91 



Lord had told them that He was the rejected stone men- 
tioned in that Psalm, and here the Holy Spirit presses the 
same truth home to their hearts. They knew that the Lord 
meant them when He quoted that verse, that they were the 
builders, who were to reject Him. They had done so in ful- 
fillment of that prophecy. Peter's words are directed 
straight at them, "He is the stone which has been set at 
naught by you, the builders." 

6. The rejected stone had become the corner stone. The 
One whom they had delivered up and cast out had been given 
the prominent place of the corner stone upon whom as the 
foundation stone everything rests and who unites the build- 
ing. The truth concerning Him as the corner stone is fully 
revealed in Ephesians, where we read . . . "Being built 
upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus 
Christ Himself being the corner stone, in whom all the 
building fitted together increases to a holy temple in the 
Lord; in whom ye also are built together for a habitation 
of God in the Spirit" (Ephes. ii:20-22). The Holy Spirit 
aimed at their conscience. Will they hear and acknowledge 
their awful mistake in having rejected the Holy One? Will 
this striking incident of the healing of the lame man 
convince them that the rejected stone is the corner stone 
now? 

7. Peter closes with the statement tnat salvation is only 
in Him whom they had set at naught. There is no other 
Name given to men by which man can be saved, and that 
is the Name of Him who had made this lame man whole. 
Salvation they all needed. They, too, rulers, elders, chief 
priests must be saved. But only in Him God had procured 
salvation free and complete for all, who will have it by 
believing on Him. This salvation was offered to these rulers, 
the builders who had rejected the Lord. 



92 



III. The Astonishment of the Sanhedrim and the Release 

of the Apostles, 

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and per- 
ceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they mar- 
velled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with 
Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with 
them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had 
commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred 
among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men? for 
that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest 
to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. But 
that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten 
them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And 
they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor 
teach in the name of Jesus. B;ut Peter and John answered and said 
unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken 
unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but 
speak the things which we have seen and heard. So when they 
had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing 
how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men 
glorified God for that which was done. For the man was above 
forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed. 
(Verses 13-22.) 

The rulers, elders, scribes and the high priest were aston- 
ished. But they were not astonished at what they had 
heard; they did not wonder at the divine voice which had 
spoken to them through an humble Galilean. The whole 
account shows how these ecclesiastical leaders had hardened 
their hearts, how they despised that blessed Name which is 
above every other name. Their astonishment was on ac- 
count of Peter's and John's boldness. In the presence of 
this great council, so revered by the whole nation, these two 
men had uttered a great accusation. They had accused 
them of having crucified one who not alone was innocent, but 
who was the long promised Messiah. Then they were aston- 
ished on account of the language and Scripture quotation 
used. They knew they were illiterate and uninstructed (the 



93 



Greek word is idiots). How then could a man like Peter 
speak such wonderful words in so brief a period? Then 
they recognized them as having been with Jesus, which does 
not mean, as it is so often said, that they were known by 
their meek manner or spirituality, that they were in 
fellowship with the Lord, but they recognized them as 
having been with the Lord Jesus during the last week in 
Jerusalem before He suffered and died. But their dilemma 
is still greater. The healed man, who was above forty 
years old, stood there. It was impossible to deny that the 
miracle was not genuine. They had nothing to reply. 
When they find words it is to request them to go outside 
so that they might speak together on their case and about 
the situation. There was no repentance, no willingness 
to accept what had been so powerfully presented to them. 
Faster and faster these men were rushing into the outer 
darkness. Peter, John and the healed man went outside 
under guard, while inside they discussed their case. But who 
knew what they said? How did it become known? This 
is one of the many incidents in the Word of God illustrating 
what inspiration is. No one reported to Luke what took 
place in that council chamber nor the other secret things 
reported in this book. But One saw and heard, and He 
the Holy Spirit, revealed these secret things to His chosen 
instrument, the beloved physician, Luke. We learn what 
happened. They could not deny the miracle. A miracle 
had taken place. They could not deny it. If there had 
been a way to deny the healing of that man, they would 
have done so. Furthermore, we see their wicked impenitent 
state. Not a word is said by them about the person of 
Christ. Not one voice is heard to consider the strong- 
witness they had heard. When they mention the Lord's 
name it is only in connection with forbidding the disciples 
to use the Name in speaking and teaching. They charged 
them never to mention that Name again. 



94 



The courageous words of the two Apostles need rio further 
Comment. In all boldness they declared that they would 
obey God more than man's word. This holy courage was 
the product of the indwelling Spirit. And we, too, beloved 
readers, need such courage as witnesses for our absent Lord- 
But few of God's people have it and often they fear men 
and bow to ecclesiastical institutions and leaders, which 
deny the Holy One of God as much as these rulers and 
scribes did. The Holy Spirit grant us a greater boldness 
in these last and evil days, when God calls to contend ear- 
nestly for the faith. 

The only answer the learned rulers and scribes could give 
was a renewed threat. They were sorry that they could not 
punish them. They did not dare to lay hands on them on 
account of the people. Too many knew what had taken 
place, and God was glorified by those who had been wit- 
nesses of the healing of the lame man. The great eccle- 
siastical council was the coward. 

IV. With their own company; their praise and prayer. 

And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported 
all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And 
when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one 
accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven, 
and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; Who by the mouth 
of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen,rage, and the 
people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and 
the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his 
Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou 
hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, 
and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatso- 
ever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 
And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy 
servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by 
stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders 
may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when 
they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled 
together and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they 
spake the Word of God with boldness, (Verses 23-31.) 



93 



With great joy they must have turned towards the place 
where their own company assembled. We do not under- 
stand by this expression only the Apostles, but it was a much 
larger gathering. The news of the arrest of Peter and John 
must have reached them soon after it took place. And as 
the assembly made increasing prayer for Peter, when Herod 
had cast him into prison (xii:5) so in all probability were 
they continuing in prayer for the two Apostles, who were 
later called "pillars of the church" (Gal. ii:). There must 
have been great joy when they appeared again with them. 
A report is given of what had taken place and what the 
chief priests and elders had demanded of them. No idle dis- 
cussion follows; no schemes or plans are made how to act 
with this injunction against their speaking in His Name. 
They did something far better and grander. Hezekiah, the 
good king, when he had received the threatening words of 
Rabshakek, the mouthpiece of Sennacherib, the Assyrian 
king (2 Kings xix), laid the whole matter before the Lord. 
So this company in their perplexity turns to the Lord in 
prayer. It concerned God and His Christ, His holy servant 
Jesus; Him they are willing to glorify by serving or suffer- 
ing. While they had made the positive declaration to the 
assembled rulers that they could not and would not keep 
silence, they now ask counsel of the Lord. The precious 
lessons and instructions we receive from this fact are not 
difficult to discover. The Holy Spirit leads to prayer, and - 
prayer is the expression of dependence on the Lord. 

With one accord they lift up their voice to God. This 
does not mean that they all prayed at once. That would 
have been confusion. Disorder in meetings, a number of 
people talking at the same time in a boisterous way with out- 
ward demonstrations, is an evidence that the Holy Spirit 
is not leading, for God is not a God of disorder, but of 
peace (1 Cor. xiv:33). Most likely Peter uttered the words of 
prayer and the rest followed in their hearts with one accord. 



96 



God is addressed as the Lord (Master) and God who 
made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in 
them. Later after the complete revelation of the Gospel of 
the Son of God, prayer is addressed to the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the proper way now to 
address God. Nowhere in this book is a prayer addressed 
to the Holy Spirit. Nowhere in the Epistles do we find a 
prayer addressed to the third person in the Godhead or an 
* exhortation to pray for His coming. Prayer to the Holy 
Spirit or for Him by those who are indwelt by Him (as 
every true Christian is) is not scriptural. We also do not 
find anywhere in this Book of the Acts that the Apostles 
or the other disciples ever prayed the so-called " Lord's 
prayer; " that is the " Our Father." That form of prayer 
had been given to the disciples for a certain time only. Be- 
fore He left them He had, so to speak, cancelled that form 
of prayer. " Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; 
ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full " (John 
xvi:24). Prayer is to be made in His Name in the power of 
His Spirit. 

The foundation of this first recorded prayer in the Acts 
is the Word of God. The Holy Spirit brings the Word to 
their minds and with that Word before their hearts they 
utter their petition. This is the true way of prayer. Daniel 
prayed in this way as well as others. The Scripture which is 
mentioned is the Second Psalm. Throughout the New Tes- 
tament the prophetic importance of that great collection of 
inspired prayers and songs of praise, the Book of Psalms, 
is seen. The Second Psalm is a great prophecy. The Psalm 
itself bears no title nor the name of the instrument through 
whom it was given. Here in this prayer we learn that David 
by the Holy Spirit is the author of this Psalm. The Psalm 
begins with a prediction that the Gentiles were to oppose 
the Lord and His anointed, that is Christ. And here we 
see a partial fulfilment of this prophecy. Herod, Pontius 



97 



Pilate, the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel had Indeed 
gathered together in that city to do what the hand and the 
counsel of the Lord had determined before should come to 
pass. The Anointed of the Lord had been rejected and re- 
fused. The Gentiles had an equal share in it. The rulers 
of the peoples of Israel had given command that His blessed 
Name should no more be mentioned. All was pre-deter- 
mined by God, which, of course, did not clear them from 
responsibility and guilt. It is an interesting fact that the 
text of the Second Psalm does not show that His own people 
Israel were to have part in that rejection. But this does 
not exhaust the prophetic meaning of the Second Psalm. 
The rejection of the Christ of God by the Gentiles and 
the peoples of Israel in the beginning of this age is only 
the prelude to the greater rejection of the Lord at the end 
of the age. Then the kings of the earth will form a great 
confederacy and say: "Let us break their bands asunder and 
cast away their cords from us." This will be followed by 
the great event which is so clearly revealed in the Second 
Psalm, the Coming of the King to rule over these nations 
and to break them with a rod of iron. The rejected Christ 
will be enthroned as King upon the holy hill of Zion. Of 
Him the Lord will declare: "Thou art my Son; this day have 
I begotten thee." (In resurrection from the dead.) Only 
then will the Second Psalm be fulfilled. 

With such a word before their hearts opened to their 
vision by the Holy Spirit while they were praying, they can 
come boldly to the Lord. They implore Him to look upon 
their threatenings. He knew all. But their prayer was 
not that their enemies might be destroyed nor that they 
might be delivered from further attacks. Their prayer was 
for boldness to speak the Word. They cast themselves 
upon the Lord for Grace and help. They also ask, which 
was perfectly in order on the ground they occupied, that His 
hand might be outstretched to heal and that signs and 



98 



wonders take place through the name of His holy servant 
Jesus. Such a prayer which concerned only the Lord and 
His Glory could not remain unanswered. The answer came 
at once. The place was shaken; they were filled with the 
Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God with boldness. 
The outward sign was that the place in which they 
assembled was shaken. The Lord and God, the Creator, 
manifested His power. It was no doubt a shaking of the 
earth, and in connection with the prediction of the Second 
Psalm, this is likewise significant. As that place was shaken, 
so, in the future, when the kings and the nations of the earth 
are in complete opposition to God and His Christ, heaven 
and earth will be shaken, when the King of king returns.* 
The filling with the Holy Spirit was not another outpour- 
ing or Baptism. He filled them anew. " Be filled with the 
Spirit " (Eph. v:18) is the word to us, and He will fill us if 
our constant aim is in word and deed to glorify the Lord 
Jesus Christ. The filling with the Holy Spirit manifested 
itself by their boldness in speaking the Word of God. They 
had great courage and liberty preaching the good news in 
the blessed Name of the Lord. 

V. The saved multitude one heart and one soul. 

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart 
and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things 
which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 
And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection 
of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither 
was there any among them that lacked; for as many as were 
possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices 
of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' 
feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he 

*Compare the outward signs on the day of Pentecost and the shaking 
of the place with 1 Kings xix:ll, 12. Four outward signs were present 
when the Lord passed by Elijah: Wind, earthquake, fire and the 
still small voice. So at Sinai. 



99 



had need. And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Bar- 
nabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation), a 
Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and 
brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. (Verses 32-37.) 

A fresh glimpse is given to us of the assembly in Jeru- 
salem. The first description we had at the close of the 
second chapter. After the great events recorded in the 
third and fourth chapters we behold again the happy 
condition of the multitude who had believed. This is a 
precious picture once more. There was a divine oneness 
among them. While in the second chapter we are told 
that they sold their substance and possessions, here we 
read that not one said that anything of what he possessed 
was his own. They realized that their real possessions were 
now in a better place, no longer on earth, but in heaven. A 
marvellous change had taken place from the earthly calling 
and hope of the Jew, to the heavenly calling and heavenly 
hope. It is true the full revelation of the heavenly had not 
yet been given, but what they knew of Christ, His resurrec- 
tion and His place at the right hand of God was sufficient 
to detach them from earthly things. It was the Holy Spirit 
who made this so real to them, and through His power they 
were enabled to bear such a witness to the truth. That the 
resurrection of the Lord Jesus is again mentioned in these 
verses shows the prominence this great event held in their 
hearts. It was this which separated them and on account 
of which great grace was upon them all. Well may we 
remember here the words of the Apostle with which he be- 
gins the practical part of that Epistle, which reveals the 
glory of our risen and exalted Lord. " If, therefore, ye have 
been raised with Christ, seek the things which are above 
where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; have your 
mind on the things which are above, not on the things that 
are on the earth; for ye have died and your life is hid with 
Christ in God. When Christ is manifested, who is our life, 



100 



then shall ye also be manifested with Him in glory " (Col. 
iii:l-3). The great truth of the resurrection and exaltation 
of Christ and that we are raised with Him and belong there 
where He is can do only one thing and that is, wean us away 
from the things on earth. How much this ought to be the 
case in these last days when the Lord's Coming is so near. 

In consequence of having all things in common, want and 
poverty were unknown amongst them. The need of all was 
supplied. All this was for a purpose. It was a great testi- 
mony to the nation. It lasted for but a brief period. We 
do not find it again. The next chapter begins with a " but " 
and shows how the sweet picture was marred by the sin of 
Ananias and Sapphira. In the sixth chapter we have the 
record of the murmuring one against the other. Thus fail- 
ure soon came in. On Gentile ground we find nowhere 
these conditions as given in these verses. 

One is mentioned especially, Joses Barnabas, as he had 
been named by the Apostles, the Son of Consolation. He 
was a Levite, born in the island of Cyprus. He was a well- 
to-do man, and had relations in Jerusalem, for John Mark 
was his cousin. The Grace of God enabled him to sell the 
land he possessed. How richly he was blessed and how the 
Lord chose him for an instrument we shall find later. 



101 



CHAPTER V. 

The contents of this chapter are as follows: (1) The mani- 
festation of evil in the church; Ananias and Sapphira (verses 
1-10). (2) Signs and wonders by the hands of the Apostles 
(verses 11-16). (3) The second arrest of the Apostles and 
their miraculous deliverance (verses 17-25). (4) Before 
the council; the defense of the Apostles, Peter's renewed 
witness (verses 25-34). (5) Gamaliel's advice (verses 34- 
39). (6) The Apostles beaten, dismissed from the council 
but continuing teaching and preaching the glad tidings 
(verses 40-42). 

I. The Manifestation of evil in the church ; Ananias and 
Sapphira. 

But a certain man, Ananias by name with Sapphira his wife, 
sold a possession, and put aside for himself part of the price, his 
wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, laid it at 
the feet of the apostles. But Peter said, Ananias, Ananias, why 
has Satan rilled thy heart that thou shouldest lie to the Holy 
Spirit, and put aside for thyself a part of the price of the land? 
While it remained, was it not thine own? and sold was it not in 
thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine 
heart? thou hast not lied unto men but unto God. And Ananias 
hearing these words fell down and expired; and great fear came 
upon all who heard it. And the young men, rising up, wound 
him up for burial, and having carried him out, buried him. And 
it came to pass about three hours afterward, that his wife, not 
knowing what had happened, came in. And Peter answered her, 
Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, 
Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye 
have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold 
the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door 
and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his 



102 



feet and expired. And the young men came in and found her 
dead, and, having carried her out, they buried her by her husband. 
(Verses 1-10.) 

Up to this chapter we have beheld a beautiful picture of 
the work of the Holy Spirit in the gathering of those who 
had believed and their fellowship, as well as in the bold 
testimony of the Apostles. The acts of the Holy Spirit in 
His mighty power are fully demonstrated in the second, 
third and fourth chapters of this book of Exodus of the New 
Testament. Then we likewise saw how the enemy began 
to act in the arrest of Peter and John. 

With this chapter the scene changes. Beautiful is the end- 
ing of the previous chapter, Barnabas having sold his land, 
laid the money at the feet of the Apostles. He gave by it a 
striking testimony how he realized as a believing Jew his 
heavenly portion, by giving up that which is promised to the 
Jew, earthly possessions. 

Our chapter begins with the significant word " But." It is 
the word of failure and decline. All was evidently perfect; 
nothing marred the precious scenes of fellowship—" but " 
and with this little word the story of evil begins. The 
enemy seeing himself so completely defeated by his attacks 
from the outside now enters among the flock and begins his 
work within. 

The instruments were Ananias and Sapphira, man and 
wife. They too had an estate, which they sold. They had 
before hand agreed to surrender only a part of the money 
they received from the sale, the balance they were keeping 
back for themselves. It was deception they had deliberately 
planned. Behind it stood unbelief; they did not realize in 
faith that God Himself in the person of His Spirit had made 
Hi£ , abode in the assembly of which they were a part. They 
did not consider this stupendous fact that the Holy Spirit 
had come and was present in the gathered company. But 
what was the motive? The surrender of possessions as done 



103 



by Barnabas was entirely voluntary. No one had asked 
Ananias and Sapphira to do the same thing. The motive 
was selfishness. Barnabas had done a good deed in obeying 
the Holy Spirit and no doubt he received praise and blessing 
for it. This moved Ananias and Sapphira to jealousy and 
they desired to have the same reputation. But their hearts 
were covetous; they loved the earthly things and they did 
not want to part with all the purchase money. Human 
glory and money were the downfall of Ananias and his wife. 
They were doubleminded. The Spirit of God was working 
in great power, but what they manifested was an imitation, 
hypocrisy, a lie.* Satan himself had filled the heart of 
Ananias using his flesh to commit this sin of lying to the 
Holy Spirit. Satan had begun his work in the midst of 
the gathered company and he worked through the flesh 
of those who had believed on the Lord. Swift judgment 
followed as to their earthly existence. They were cut off by 
death. The sin they had done was " a sin unto death " and 
the sentence, physical death, was immediately carried out. 
Peter is still in the foreground. We must remember here 
the words of the Lord which He spake to Peter, after this 
disciple had confessed Him as Son of God. " And I will 
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and what- 
soever thou shalt bind upon earth shall be bound in heaven, 
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in 
heaven " (Matthew xvi:19). The same words concerning 
binding and loosing the Lord addressed to all the disciples 
(Matthew xviii:18). The binding and loosing refers to 
discipline on earth. It has nothing whatever to do with for- 
giveness of sins or eternal salvation. Peter here exercises 
this authority, it was the first discipline. We must like- 



*There is an interesting correspondency between the sin of Achan, 
the first failure reported after Israel entered the land, and the sin of 
Ananias and Sapphira. 



104 



wise remember that these events happened on Jewish, 
on kingdom ground. The witness was still to the nation. 
The sudden judgment which came upon Ananias and 
Sapphira was a strong witness to the nation that the Holy 
One of Israel, Jehovah, dwelt in the midst of this remnant, 
who believed in the One whom the nation had rejected. 
When the kingdom is established on earth and the Lord 
Jesus Christ rules in righteousness, then, no doubt every sin 
will be swiftly judged by death. If it is asked why such 
judgments do no longer occur, we answer that the Holy 
Spirit then was ungrieved; now the Spirit is grieved on ac- 
count of unfaithfulness and God no longer acts in this way 
to bear testimony to His presence in the church. Besides 
this it is nowhere stated that such manifestations of His 
presence were to continue. If God would thus act in judg- 
ment in every case of doublemindness, unfaithfulness and 
sinning against the Holy Spirit, it would be contrary to one 
great characteristic of this present age. That is " the silent 
heavens." The many misguided people, who think they 
have gone back to Pentecost, have received their Pentecost, 
speak with new tongues, that the gift of tongues and of doing 
miracles is restored to them and that they are now once 
more in " apostolic times," should also expect such judgments 
in their midst. 

There are some important lessons to be gathered from this 
solemn event which we cannot pass by. 

(1) The fact of the presence of the flesh in the believer. 
Ananias and Sapphira were believers. They gave way to 
follow the flesh, and Satan came in with his power and 
tempted them. The doctrine of the eradication of the old 
nature by having received " the baptism with the Holy 
Spirit " is unscriptural. 

In this case of Ananias and Sapphira it is fully demon- 
strated what is written in the Epistle to the Galatians " For 



105 



the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against 
the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other, so that 
ye cannot do the things ye would " (Gal. v:17). 

(2) The power of Satan is revealed in the event. What 
Ananias and Sapphira did was suggested to them by Satan. 
Vain glory was in their hearts; they followed pride to 
win fame and get the praise from man. They had the root 
of all evil " the love of money " in their hearts and yielded 
to it. Acting thus in the flesh Satan came and suggested the 
lie to them. Their eyes were then blinded and they lost 
sight of the great truth so well known to them that He who 
is " perfect in knowledge " dwelt in them and in the midst 
of the congregation as Jehovah had dwelt in the midst of 
Israel. 

(3) The event bears witness to the fact that the Holy 
Spirit is not an influence but a divine person, He is God. 
Ananias had lied to the Holy Spirit. Peter tells him " Thou 
hast not lied to men but to God." To tempt the Holy Spirit 
is to tempt God and to lie to the Spirit is a lie to God. 

(4) All sin of the Christian believer is now against the 
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer and 
whenever the believer walks not in the Spirit but in flesh, 
when he is carnally minded, the believer sins against the 
Holy Spirit. Satan has then an advantage over him. But 
thanks be to God for His gracious provision! We can 
judge ourselves and confess our sins (not to the Holy Spirit 
but to God), and He is faithful and just to forgive and 
cleanse us. 

5. The presence of the Holy Spirit demands separation 
from evil. If believers would recognize the great truth, 
believe it fully that the Holy Spirit dwells in them, they 
would walk in the Spirit and be separated from evil. With 
all the singing about the Holy Spirit, the teaching and the 



106 



great amount of scriptural literature on the doctrine of the 
Holy Spirit, but few believers enjoy the reality of the pres- 
ence of the Spirit of God and are governed by it. Those who 
are the Lord's must be separated from evil of every form. 
One has well said: "In the first days of the Holy Spirit 
He took out what dishonored Him. In later days He called 
upon the assembly to act, to purge out the leaven, to 'put 
away' that wicked person" (1 Cor. v). In these last days, 
when the whole has become leavened with legality, world- 
liness, hypocrisy, sensuality, ritualism and rationalism, the 
faithful are to come out from among them and be separate, 
to follow righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those 
who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart (that is unmixed 
with any evil). In Israel Jehovah judged in the beginning, 
at once and severely, for "holiness becometh His house for- 
ever." But in later days, when all had gone aside, and they 
who regarded Him were but few they were told to stand 
apart from the whole. The condition of the professing com- 
pany may change, but the grand principle remains. The holi- 
ness of His presence excluding and separating us from evil." 

Oh that God's people in these solemn days, when judg- 
ment is so near, may hear the call of the Holy Spirit in the 
last Pauline Epistle, the epistle which so clearly describes 
the present apostasy, Second Timothy. It is His call to 
separation from evil (2 Tim. ii:20, 21; iii:5). 

II. The Signs and Wonders done by the Hands of the 
Apostles. 

And great fear came upon all the church, and upon all who 
heard these things. And by the hands of the Apostles were many 
signs and wonders done among the people. And they were all with 
one accord in Solomon's porch, but of the rest durst no man join 
them, but the people magnified them; and believers were more than 
ever added to the Lord, multitudes (both of men and women); so 
that they brought out the sick into the streets and put them on beds 



107 



and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter, when he came', 
might overshadow some of them. And the multitudes also of the 
cities round about came together to Jerusalem, bringing sick persons 
beset by unclean spirits, who were all healed. (Verses 11-16.) 

Signs and wonders were done by the Apostles. Their 
habitual place seems to have been in Solomon's porch. No 
one dared to join them. They held the position of authority. 
Though they had been forbidden the public ministry they 
are back in a prominent place. The people magnified them, 
too. Then another result was that more believers were 
added. Added to what? The First Hebrew Christian Church 
of Jerusalem? The First Jewish Christian Society? No. 
They were added to the Lord. The sinner believing is saved, 
receives the Holy Spirit, is joined to the Lord, becomes one 
spirit with the Lord, a member of the body of which He is 
the Head. Signs and wonders were done by the Apostles. 
The sick were healed, unclean spirits were driven out. Mul- 
titudes of people from the surrounding country flocked to 
Jerusalem, bringing their sick, and they were all healed. 
The streets presented another strange picture. Everywhere 
one could see the sick on beds and couches. They waited for 
the time when Peter walked through these streets so that 
his shadow might fall on some of them. These were great 
manifestations of the power of God. The words spoken by 
the Lord were then fulfilled. They did the works He did. 
These signs and wonders, however, are nowhere mentioned 
as to their permanency throughout this age. They were 
only for the beginning of this age; after the Gospel of Grace 
and the mystery hidden in former ages had been fully made 
known they disappeared. It has been said of late that "God's 
gifts and calling are without repentance" and that therefore 
God has not taken back the sign gifts and the extraordinary 
powers as manifested here in this chapter in connection with 
the testimony to Israel. The reader must remember that the 
verse concerning the gifts and calling of God is written in 



108 

Romans x! and has no application in connection with this age 
but refers us to Israel's calling. 

Nor has God promised for the end of this age a restoration 
of these gifts. When certain men, claiming to be great 
teachers of the Word, speak of "the latter rain," great spirit- 
ual blessings coming in the end of this age, they but reveal 
their ignorance. Nowhere is there found such a pronise. 
The testimony of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament 
holds out no hope for a restoration of gifts, but His testi- 
mony tells us of apostasy, departure from the faith, and 
delusions. There will be "signs and wonders" in the end 
of the age. But these signs and wonders will be the most 
awful imitations of the power of the Holy Spirit; signs and 
lying wonders are predicted through the working of Satan. 
These have already commenced, but the real working of 
Satan will begin after the true church is removed from the 
earth (2 Thess. ii). 

III. The Second Arrest of the Apostles and their Mirac- 
ulous Deliverance. 

And the high priest rising up, and all they that were with him, 
which is the sect of the Saduccees, were filled with wrath, and laid 
hands on the Apostles and put them in the public prison. But an 
angel of the Lord during the night opened the doors of the prison, 
and leading them out, said, Go ye and stand and speak in the 
temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they 
heard it, they entered very early into the temple and taught. And 
when the high priest was come, and they that were with him, they 
called together the council and all the senate of the children of 
Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the 
officers came they found them not in the prison and returned and 
reported, saying, We found the prison shut with all safety and 
the keepers standing without before the doors, but when we had 
opened we found no man within. And when they heard these 
words, both the priest and the captain of the temple and the chief 
priests were in perplexity as to them, what this would come to. 
Then came one and reported to them saying, Behold the men whom 



109 



ye put in prison are standing in the temple teaching the people 
(Verses 17-25.) 

The startling manifestations of the Holy Spirit in signs 
and miracles brought forth another and more severe action 
of the enemy. The second arrest of the bold witnesses is 
marked by greater hatred and violence than the first arrest. 
The Apostles were treated like common criminals and were 
put into the public prison. The Sadducees, the deniers of 
the resurrection and the miraculous, are mostly concerned 
in this second arrest. Their miserable unbelief had been 
endangered by the supernatural manifestations and these 
again fully demonstrated the great truth they were denying, 
the, resurrection of the Lord Jesus. They were filled with 
jealousy (the word used in the Greek). But there was an- 
other manifestation of the power of God. During the night 
an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and led 
them out. They were delivered by divine interference 
through the power of God by a heavenly messenger. Critics 
have denied this. One recently has made the statement that 
the phrase "angel of the Lord" must be understood, "as a 
Hebraic expression for some divine intervention, the manner 
of which is not defined. It may have been connivance on 
the part of an officer, or the help of a friend." Such weak 
statements need no answer. We shall find the appearance 
of heavenly messengers again. It was an angel of the Lord 
who guided Philip, who liberated Peter out of prison, and who 
smote Herod when he blasphemed (Acts xii). In the Old 
Testament we find "the angel of the Lord" (Malach Jeho- 
vah) and He is an Uncreated angel, the Lord Himself. But 
here it is a heavenly messenger. He appeared, no doubt, in 
the form of man, like the two at the ascension of the Lord. 
Such a manifestation of angels was perfectly in order at that 
time, and fully corresponds with the other kingdom charac- 
teristics in the beginning of the Book of Acts. But the super- 
natural manifestations soon ceased. Hundreds and thousands 



lid 



of others throughout this present age were put into prisori, 
they remained in dungeons, were slowly tormented, walled 
up to die a slow death, eaten by vermin, all for righteousness 
sake, and yet no angels came to open their doors and lead 
them forth. With this we do not say that the angels have 
no ministry now toward us. This would be contrary to Scrip- 
ture (Hebrews i: 14). But visible manifestations of heavenly 
messengers have ceased like the miraculous sign gifts. It 
will not always be so. The heavens will speak again and 
there will be startling manifestations on judgment through 
angels and with the beginning of the coming age, angels will 
be manifested once more, and God's power and glory will be 
visibly displayed. 

The delivering angel had also commissioned the Apostles 
to speak the words of life to all the people. This they did 
at once with the early morning. The assembled council is 
in great perplexity when the prison is found empty and the 
report reaches them, that the men are again standing in the 
temple teaching the people. Yet this evident miracle does not 
bring them to their knees to acknowledge the power of God. 

IV. Their Trial and Witness before the Council. 

Then went the captain with the officers and brought them without 
violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. 
And they brought them and set them in the council. And the high 
priest asked them, saying, We strictly enjoined you not to teach in 
this Name, and behold ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine 
and purpose to bring upon us the blood of this man. But Peter, 
answering, and the Apostles said, God must be obeyed rather than 
man. The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and 
hanged on a tree (lit. wood, that is a cross). Him did God exalt 
by His right hand as a Prince and Savior, to give repentance to 
Israel and remission of sins. And we are His witnesses of these 
things, and the Holy Spirit also, whom God has given to them that 
obey Him. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart and 
took counsel to kill them. (Verses 26-33.) 



Ill 



With cowardly fear they led them into the presence of 
the council. They did not dare to use violence as this 
might have resulted in an open outbreak from the side of 
the people, who heard the Apostles gladly. Two charges are 
brought now against them. They had broken the command 
of the council. They had been 'forbidden to speak in this 
Name and they had continued to do so, utterly disregarding 
the injunction. This was the first charge and it was true 
enough. The second charge was but the working of their 
guilty conscience. They accused them that they purposed 
to bring this man's blood upon them. They feared that the 
people stirred up by their teaching, might take them to task 
for having condemned Jesus of Nazareth. But another fact 
stands behind this fear. The people had cried "His blood 
be on us and on our children." The leaders of the people 
were responsible for this awful word. They must have re- 
membered it and they feared that this might soon be true 
in open vengeance from the side of the people against them. 
It is also a remarkable fact that they themselves do not speak 
the name of the Lord. They speak of Him as "this man" 
and "this name." 

Once more we find the record of the apostolic testimony. 
It does not differ from the previous bold and powerful wit- 
nesses given. After the statement that God must be obeyed 
rather than man, we find three great facts mentioned by 
Peter: 

1. The Jesus, whose Name they were loath to pronounce, 
whom God had raised up, they had slain and hanged on a 
cross. This fully establishes their guilt. Once more the 
blood guiltiness is brought home to their consciences. 

2. The exaltation of Jesus is mentioned next. Raised 
from the dead, exalted by the right hand of God, He is a 
Prince and Saviour. In His Name repentance is offered to 
Israel and forgiveness of sins. 



112 



3. The third part of this brief and logical defense concerns 
the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead. They were 
witnesses of these things, and also the Holy Spirit. This 
Holy Spirit is now bestowed upon them that obey Him, that 
is, who believe God. The Holy Spirit was upon them and 
in them, and with them as a believing company. The wit- 
ness concerned the three great facts so prominent in the 
beginning of this book, the death of Jesus, the resurrection 
of Jesus, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, because the 
Lord Jesus Christ is glorified, highly exalted. The Father, 
the Son and the Holy Spirit, are thus mentioned. The Gos- 
pel is mentioned. Forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy 
Spirit is for them that obey, believe in Him, whom God has 
exalted as Prince and Saviour. Surely this is a fulfillment of 
that word the Lord spoke to His disciples, when He predicted 
future events. "But when they deliver you up, be not care- 
ful how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given to you 
in that hour what ye shall speak" (Matt, x: 19). 

But what was the result of this other powerful witness of 
the Apostles by the power of the Holy Spirit? Are they 
humbling themselves? Does perhaps this stirring testimony 
backed up by divine interference in the release of the Apos- 
tles from the prison make them thoughtful? No. The wit- 
ness went to the heart; it struck home. But instead of 
repenting they took counsel to kill them." The story of their 
Lord is repeated, for they also took counsel to kill them, in 
order to silence His testimony. Under the control of him, 
who is a murderer from the beginning they are ready to shed 
more blood. What might have happened if Gamaliel had not 
stood up, none can tell. Perhaps they were ready then to rush 
upon them as later they rushed upon Stephen to murder him. 

V. The Advice of Gamaliel (Verses 34-39). 

But a certain man, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a teacher of the 
law, held in honor of all the people, rose up in the council and com- 



113 



manded to put the Apostles out for a little while, and he said to 
them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to 
do as touching these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, 
alleging himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about 
four hundred, joined themselves and who was slain; and all, as 
many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to naught. After 
this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the census, and 
drew away a number of people after him; he also perished and all, 
as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. And now I say unto you, 
Withdraw from these men and let them alone; for if this council 
or this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of 
God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight 
against God. (Verses 34-39.) 

Gamaliel was undoubtedly an instrument of God to 
restrain the wicked devices of the council. But who was 
Gamaliel? The text itself gives the answer, a great man 
and teacher of the law. He is called in Hebrew writings 
Rabban Gamaliel the Old. His name means "bestowed of 
God." He was president of the council after his own father, 
Rabban Simeon, who was the son of Hillel. He is the great 
teacher at whose feet Saul of Tarsus sat. He died eighteen 
years before the destruction of Jerusalem, and died a 
Pharisee. If his advice here seems that he favored the Apos- 
tles, his subsequent career shows that he followed the wicked 
devices of his contemporaries. A prayer against the heretics 
(the believers in the Lord) was later formulated to be read 
in the synagogues, and he fully approved of it and recom- 
mended its use. The advice he gave is so well known and the 
words so simple that they need no further comment. His 
advice is, leave them alone. Wait for the issue. If it is 
of God, you then fight against God. If it is of man, like 
similar movements before, it will come to nought. God will 
take care of His own honor; there would be no need of their 
interfering. God rules supreme. But this advice has also 
another side. It was after all nothing but a cowardly way to 
dodge the issue by waiting for light by the issue itself. Ever 



114 



since up to the present time men have hidden themselves 
behind the wisdom of Gamaliel. If certain movements spring 
up which are doubtful and contain erroneous teachings 
contradicting the revelation of God, we hear people say that 
they are content to wait for the issue. If the movement is 
of God it will stand, if it is of man it will come to nought. 
But what in the meantime? If it does not become apparent 
at once whether it is of God or of the enemy? There is no 
need to follow this clever advice 01 the great Jewish teacher. 
We are in oossession of the completed Word of God and must 
test everything by it. There is no need to halt between 'two 
opinions. Evil can be detected and must be judged. But 
that the council acted upon this in hypocrisy is seen by what 
follows. And yet we must not lose sight of the fact that God 
used this politic advice of Gamaliel to keep His disciples in 
that hour of grave peril. 

VI. The Release of the Apostles. Their Continued Tes- 
timony. 

And to him they agreed; and when they had called the Apostles, 
and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in 
the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the 
presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy 
to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every 
house, they ceased not to teach and announce the "glad tidings that 
Jesus is Christ. (Verses 40, 42.) 

Nothing of .all this was known to the Apostles for they 
had been outside while Gamaliel delivered his address. The 
Holy Spirit through Luke gives the full account of what 
had been done under cover. The council agreed. But if 
they agreed, why did they beat the Apostles? It surely was 
contrary to the agreement. They should have let them go 
without laying their hands on them, but. wait for the issue. 
If these men were right, then according to Gamaliel's word 
they were fighting against God. This was, of course, the 



115 

case. The beating was according to Deut. xxv: 2, 3. They 
were treated as wicked men and received the 'allotted num- 
ber of stripes, forty save one. Physical ('suffering and shame 
was connected with this mode of punishment. This was the 
first actual suffering of the Apostles for the Name, which is 
above every other name. Then we see them departing. 
It was a departure in triumph; they were more than con- 
querors. If we could have seen them with their bleeding 
backs, we would not have beheld faces full of rebellion and 
pain, but we would have seen joyous countenances and heard 
words of praise from their lips, as later Paul and Silas sang 
and praised in prison. It was the Holy Spirit who filled 
them, and made them rejoice "that they were counted 
worthy to suffer shame for His Name." ^Later the Holy 
Spirit speaks of suffering for Christ through Peter in a way 
which is so refreshing. "But rejoice inasmuch as, ye are 
partakers of Christ's sufferings; that when His glory shall 
be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye 
be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the 
Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you, on their part 
He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified" (1 Pet. 
iv: 13, 14). Thus His Spirit rested upon them and they 
rejoiced. How little we know of such experiences in our 
own days! 

And then they continued. Nothing could hinder them. 
What a divine steadfastness was theirs. It was the result of 
the presence of the Holy Spirit in them. He was ungrieved 
because they exalted Christ and magnified Him. ,,A 'wonder- 
ful activity they unfolded. It was indeed true what the 
council had said. All Jerusalem was filled by their doctrine. 
The work they did continually was not the working of mira- 
cles, or speaking in strange tongues. Some deluded Christians 
of our times seem to think that these outward signs were the 
chief things 'in the beginning of the age. They Were not. 
Greater than doing miracles and speaking in other tongues - 



116 



is that, through which the body of Christ is gathered and 
edified. This is the preaching of the Gospel and the teaching 
of the Word. This they did. They did not cease teaching 
and preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel), that Jesus is 
Christ. 



117 



CHAPTER VI. 

This chapter has two parts. In the first part (verses 1-7) 
we find the record of the murmuring of the Grecians against 
the Hebrews, and how this difficulty was overcome. In the 
second part (verses 8-15) Stephen, one of the seven chosen, 
is in the foreground. This part properly belongs to the chap- 
ter which follows, in which Stephen's great address before 
the council and his glorious martyrdom is revealed. 

I. The Murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews. 

But in those days, when the number of disciples multiplied, there 
arose a murmuring of the Grecians (Hellenists) against the He- 
brews, because their widows were overlooked in the daily minis- 
trations. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples, 
and said, It is not right-that we should leave the word of God, and 
serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven 
men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we 
may establish over this business. But we will give ourselves 
continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the 
saying pleased the whole multitude; and they chose Stephen, 
a man full, of faith and of the Holy Ghost,, and Philip, and Pro- 
chorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a 
proselyte cf Antioch: whom they set before the apostles: and when 
they have prayed, they laid their hands on. them. And the word 
of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in 
Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient 
to the faith. (Verses 1-7.) 

Another failure is brought before us. The enemy acts 
again. From without and from within Satan pressed upon 
that which was of God. While the Lord Jesus Christ and 
the Holy Spirit acted in Grace and power, the enemy came 
in to disturb. It is still so. Whenever there is a door opened 
there are also many adversaries (1 Cor. xvi: 9). 



118 



The flesh manifested itself in murmuring. The assembly 
took care of the poor; widows being specially helpless, were 
the objects of daily ministrations. The Jews themselves in 
connection with the synagogue had, special funds for them. 
They must have also formed a recognized group in the early 
church (1 Tim. v: 9, 10). The ministration is the distribu- 
tion mentioned in Chapter iv:35, and ,as the multitude was 
very great, including, perhaps, hundreds (of widows, this 
work was quite a task. Murmurings arose and these were 
born of jealousy, the result of unbelief. It» is the first indi- 
cation of weakness and failure. This reminds us of the mur- 
murings of Israel as recorded in the^ book of Exodus. The 
same old thing, the changeless flesh, shows itself among 
the saved and united company of believers, indwelt by the 
Holy Spirit. The murmurings were on the side of the 
Grecians. Their complaint was , against the Hebrews that 
the Grecian widows were being overlooked. The Grecians 
were not, as some teach, Gentiles, but they were Greek- 
speaking Jews, born in countries; outside of Palestine, and 
therefore called Hellenists, or Grecians. Between these two 
classes, the native and foreign-born Jews, there existed con- 
siderable jealousy. This rivalry was introduced in the assem- 
bly. The Hebrew distributors were accused of overlooking 
the Grecians. 

But the murmuring was arrested at once. A divine Per- 
son was present, the One perfect in wisdom, the Holy Spirit. 
As He was ungrieved in their midst, He at once meets the 
need of the assembly. The murmuring could not advance 
nor do its pernicious work in dividing the people. Later the 
Holy Spirit especially warns, against murmuring. "Let all 
things be done without murmurings and. disputings" (Phil, 
ii). Murmurings. belong to the works of the flesh and will 
lead to the things mentioned in Galatians v: "hatred, strifes, 
jealousies, angers, contentions, disputes, parties and envy- 
ings." Alas! how sad is the condition of Christian churches 



119 



at the present time in this respect. If believers walk in 
humility, in self-judgment, esteeming the other higher than 
themselves, and are controlled by the mind which was in 
Christ Jesus, all those things would not be. Any murmur- 
ing, if it arises through the weakness of the flesh, would at 
once be cut short by the Holy Spirit. 

The Spirit of God, who had, as reported in the previous 
chapter, acted in judgment by removing the two transgres- 
sors, now acts in divine grace. 

The twelve called the assembly together. As the mur- 
muring of Israel in the wilderness was mostly directed 
against Moses and Aaron, their divinely-appointed leaders, 
so the murmuring here was in a certain measure against the 
Apostles, at whose feet was laid the price of what had been 
sold. There is no word of rebuke from the side of the Apos- 
tles. Neither do we read of any arguments they used. They 
act guided by the Holy Spirit. Their great calling and 
gift was the ministry of the Word; they had been obliged to 
serve tables more or less. They discerned at once that the 
Lord had not called them to this double service. Here is 
another evidence of the existence of the church. The Holy 
Spirit who had united them at the day of Pentecost into one 
body, now begins to point out the order in that body. All 
of this, concerning the different gifts to the members of the 
body, is not revealed here, but is found in the doctrinal Epis- 
tles of the Apostle to the Gentiles, to whom the ministry 
of the church was committed. 

Seven men, the Holy Spirit directs through the Apostles, 
are to be selected from among the assembly. Three condi- 
tions are mentioned. They must be men of good report, 
esteemed by all on account of their character, they must be 
full of the Spirit, and possess wisdom. The Apostles them- 
selves declared: "we will give ourselves continually to 
prayer, and to the ministry of the Word." The Holy Spirit 
thus separated the gifts called to minister in spiritual things, 



120 



from the ministry of temporal matters. What confusion 
there exists- in this respect at the present time in the profess- 
ing church, needs hardly to be pointed out. 

In this word of the Apostles, there is an important state- 
ment concerning prayer and the ministry of the Word. It 
is not the ministry of the Word, teaching and preaching, 
first, but they put prayer into the first place. There can be 
no effectual ministry, no effectual preaching of the Gospel 
and Bible teaching unless it is preceded by prayer. Prayer 
is the expression of dependence upon God. Ministry of the 
Word must be in utter dependence on the Lord and there- 
fore prayer is the right preparation for it. 

Then the, multitude, that is the entire assembly, chose the 
seven men, while the Apostles sanctioned their choice. Ste- 
phen is mentioned first, and described as a man full of faith 
and the Holy Spirit. Then follow the names of the others, 
Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas. 
The latter was a proselyte, that is, one who had adopted 
Judaism by circumcision; he was from Antioch. There is 
absolutely no' historical proof that this Nicolas formed later 
a special sect and that he taught wicked doctrines. His 
name can in nowise be connected with the Nicolaitanes in 
Revelation ii: 6 and 15. 

While we know little of these men and the service they 
rendered, with the exception of Stephen and Philip, it is an 
interesting fact that their names are all Greek. In this the 
grace of God is beautifully exhibited. The Grecians were 
the murmurers, and no doubt they were fewer in number 
than the Hebrews. A modern day church meeting would 
have proposed to elect a committee composed of equal num- 
bers of the two parties. But not so here. 

Grace and wisdom from above are manifested in this 
• action. The entire seven were chosen from those who had 
complained. This was the blessed rebuke of Grace. The 
weakness and failure is made an occasion to bring out such 



121 



graciousness. Into the hands of those who had murmured 
is given the distribution of the funds. This silenced the 
murmurings at once. 

The seven were then set before the Apostles and when 
they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. This is the 
first time we find the laying on of hands in the Book of 
Acts. As this "laying on of hands" is so much misunder- 
stood, and has been made an act by which authority, power 
and blessing is claimed to be conferred, we, must say a brief 
word on it. It is always proper in reading and interpreting 
the Word of God, to see if not elsewhere in the Bible the terms 
or things to be interpreted are used, so that through them 
the right meaning can be ascertained. The laying on of 
hands is first mentioned in the Book of Leviticus. In the 
opening chapters of that book we read how the offerer was 
to lay his hand upon the head of the offering. Thus we 
read of the Peace offering: "He shall lay his hand upon the 
head of his offering" (Lev. iii:2). This meant the identifi- 
cation of the Israelite with the offering itself. And this is 
the only meaning of the laying on of hands from the side 
of the Apostles. They identified themselves and the assembly 
with them in their work for which they had been chosen. 
It was a very simple and appropriate act to show their fel- 
lowship with them. All else which has been made of the lay- 
ing on of hands is an invention. There is no Scripture for 
the present day usage in Christendom, that a man in order 
to preach the Gospel or teach the Word of God must be 
"ordained." We shall return to this when we reach other 
parts of this book. 

The Word of God increased. The Holy Spirit gave it 
power, and after this victory when the enemy attempted to 
disturb the assembly by the murmuring, He unfolded great 
energy. The number of disciples increased greatly and 
especially is it mentioned that a great company of the 
priests were obedient to the faith. The latter was appar- 



122 



ently a new thing. No priests were mentioned before. 
May not the rent veil have had something to do with this 
great company of priests believing in the Lord Jesus Christ? 
They had found the new and living way into the Holiest by 
the blood of Jesus. 

The office of the seven, we may add, was only of a short 
duration, for soon persecution of the worst type set in and 
the disciples were scattered. 

II. Stephen, his ministry and arrest. 

And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and 
miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the 
synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and 
Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, 
disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the 
wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned 
men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words 
against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, 
and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught 
him, and brought him to the council. And set up false witnesses, 
which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words 
against this holy place, and the law: for we have heard him say, 
that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall 
change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that 
sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it 
had been the face of an angel. (Verses 8-15.) 

With Stephen we reach an important stage in this book. 
The testimony, as given to Israel, is now soon to be closed 
and Stephen is the instrument chosen to deliver the most 
striking testimony to the representatives of the nation. 
Of the history of this remarkable man we know but little. 
As already seen, his name indicates that he was a Hellenist; 
Stephen means "crown." And he is indeed to have a great 
crown in the day when the Lord will take the award seat and 
His saints will appear before Him. We learned before that he 
was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. He is, so to speak, 
the link between Peter and Paul; most significantly, at 



123 



the close of Stephen's great witness and after his vision of 
the Glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of 
God, there is mentioned a young man named Saul, "and 
Saul consented unto his death." 

Here in the sixth chapter we read that Stephen was "full 
of grace and power," the effect of faith, and filled with the 
Spirit. He is the first disciple mentioned who is not an 
apostle, who did great wonders and miracles among the 
people. Then we see those of the synagogues of the Liber- 
tines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, disputing with him. 
These were also Hellenists, Jews brought up in foreign coun- 
tries, and of much learning. There were many synagogues 
at that time in Jerusalem, and as it is the custom still among 
the orthodox Jews, the synagogues were called by the names 
of the places from which its adherents came. This synagogue 
then was composed of Libertines, that is, Jews from Rome,* 
for they were known by that name, Jews of Cyrene and Alex- 
andria. To this synagogue Stephen may have belonged, and 
if this was the case, his presence with them is easily explained. 
The fullness of Grace in his heart reached out after them. 
These Jews disputed with Stephen and he with them; but 
also those of Cilicia and Asia are mentioned. May not this 
young man, Saul of Tarsus, the Pharisee of the Pharisees, 
hailing from Cilicia, been among these disputers? It is more 
than likely. All their great learning was of no avail in the 
presence of such a powerful witness. The Holy Spirit bore 
witness and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the 
Spirit in which he spoke. They would not accept the testi- 
mony of this gracious and powerful witness and therefore 
only another way was left to them. They are filled with 
satanic hatred against him, and as the chief priests did with 

*It is wrong to call these " Libertines " free thinkers. Jews had 
been taken to Rome as slaves. Their descendants who had been 
liberated were called Libertines, that is freedmen. They were known 
as such in Jerusalem and hence the name "synagogue of the Libertines." 



124 



the Lord, did these here suborn men who accused Stephen 
of blasphemy. The charge is "blasphemy against Moses 
and against God." They succeeded in their satanic work 
by stirring up the people, the elders and the scribes. Ste- 
phen is arrested and brought before the council. There the 
charge is repeated. Three things are mentioned by them. 
He ceaseth not to speak words against this holy place; 
against the law and that he should have said: "This Jesus 
of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the 
customs which Moses delivered us." And then they looked 
upon him and behold his face was like the face of an angel. 
All eyes were attracted to this wonderful sight. Steadfastly 
they looked upon a face of Glory; a face reflecting heaven's 
light, heaven's Glory; a face reflecting the Glory of Him 
into whose presence he soon would "be called. And may not 
that young man named Saul also have been there and seen 
that face? And that dark countenance of that young Phar- 
isee of Tarsus was soon to behold that same Glory-light 
and then tell the world of the Gospel of the Glory and that 
"we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the 
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory unto 
glory." 



125 



CHAPTER VII. 

The seventh chapter is the longest in the entire book 
and one of the most interesting and important. The 
whole council looked steadfastly upon that shining face, 
as if it had been the face of an angel. Thus we read in 
the closing verse of the previous chapter. How long they 
looked upon Stephen as he stood there we do not know. 
Perhaps after a few minutes of silence, an ominous silence, 
like the calm before a storm, the voice of the high priest 
is heard " Are these things so? " 

Stephen then begins his great, God-given testimony. 
He is not permitted to finish it. They ran upon him with 
one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him 

The chapter is therefore divided into two parts. 

I. The address of Stephen (Verses 2-53). 

II. The martyrdom of Stephen (Verses 54-60). 

1. The address of Stephen. We shall not quote the 
text of the entire testimony, which he delivered before 
the council, but request our readers to read his words care- 
fully. 

We notice at once a marked difference between the pre- 
vious preaching by the Apostle Peter and the address of 
Stephen. The testimony of Peter was marked on the day 
of Pentecost and at the other occasions by great brevity. 
Stephen's address is the longest discourse reported in the 
New Testament. The name of Jesus is prominent in all 
the addresses of Peter. The fact that He was rejected by 
the people, crucified and that He rose from the dead and the 
call to repentance, were the leading features of Peter's 
preaching. Stephen does not mention the Name of Jesus 



126 



at all,* thougn ne nas the person of Christ and His rejection 
as the theme of his testimony. At the close of his address 
he speaks of the Just One of whom they had become betrayers 
and murderers. 

Stephen had been accused of speaking against Moses 
and against God, also against the temple and the law. 
These accusations he is asked to answer. What he de- 
clared before the council shows plainly that the accusa- 
tions are utterly false. His speech is therefore partly 
apologetic; but it is also teaching in that it shows certain 
truths from the historic events he cites. And before he 
finishes his testimony the accused becomes the accuser 
of the nation; the one to be judged becomes the judge. 
Indeed his whole testimony as he rapidly speaks of past 
history in his great and divinely arranged retrospect, is 
a most powerful testimony to the nation as well as against 
the nation. 

Another striking fact is that he puts two persons into 
the foreground. These are Joseph and Moses. Why 
they occupy such a prominent place in Stephen's address 
we shall see later. 

Another matter we have to mention briefly before we 
touch upon some of the special features of the address. 
A careful reading of the statements made by Stephen and 
comparison with the Old Testament records show that 
there are certain things added by Stephen of which* we 
do not read in the previous records; there are also other 
variations. These are often called discrepancies and are 
used as evidences against the inspirations of the Scriptures. 
However, they are far from being that. The Holy Spirit 
through Stephen adds some details to the already existing 
records. Stephen who was a Hellenist, a Greek speaking 
Jew, spoke most likely in the Greek language and then used 

*The name Jesus occurs in the auth. Vers, in Verse 45; it should be 
Joshua. 



127 



the text of the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the 
Septuagint), which explains some of these alleged dis- 
crepancies. We shall not attempt to explain any of the 
others as that would lead us too far. We turn now to 
the address of Stephen to examine its different parts. 

1. Abraham's History. Verses 2-8. He begins with 
the great father of the nation, Abraham. Very signifi- 
cant is the beginning of the address. " The God of Glory 
appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Meso- 
potamia, before he dwelt in Charran." The better trans- 
lation is " the God of the Glory." The same expression 
is used in Psalm xxix:3, " The God of the Glory thundereth." 
In Ephesians i :17 " The Father of the Glory." In 1 Corinth. 
ii:8, where our Lord is called by the same title, "The Lord 
of the Glory" and in 1 Peter iv:14, "the Spirit of the 
Glory." With this beautiful phrase Stephen begins and 
when his testimony is finished he beheld this very Glory 
of the Lord and he saw Him of whom he had borne witness, 
the One who had appeared unto Abraham and unto Moses 
in the burning bush. This beginning is significant for the 
greater Glory of the Lord and the light of the knowledge 
of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is now soon 
to be made known through that chosen instrument to whom 
was committed the Gospel of the Glory of God, the Apostle 
Paul. 

And the God of Glory had appeared unto Abraham when 
he was in the country of idolatry, yea himself an idolator 
(Joshua xxiv:2). God had graciously called him out of it 
and Abraham had gone forth in faith, not knowing where 
he went; God brought him to the land of Canaan. Concern- 
ing the promise Stephen said, " And He gave him none 
inheritance in it, not so much as to set his foot on; yet 
He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, 
and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child." 
Abraham believed the promise and was justified by faith. 



128 



All this manifested the Grace of God. It was unmerited 
favour. Abraham did nothing nor could do anything to earn 
all this. There was no temple then to boast of and no law 
to keep. The promise and the covenant were before the 
law. But they boasted in the law, which they did not keep 
and in the temple. 

It was true of the council then as Paul wrote later " they 
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about 
to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted 
themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ 
is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that 
believeth" (Rom. x:3-4). They had this righteousness 
and Grace offered unto them and they were rejecting it. 
The argument advanced here is similar to the one which 
Paul brings forth in Galatians iii. If the young Pharisee 
Saul of Tarsus heard Stephen, he heard for the first time, 
though still blinded, the great truth the Spirit of God un- 
folded through him after his conversion. 

But Stephen also speaks of Israel's sojourn in a strange 
land as revealed unto Abraham. For four hundred years 
they were entreated evil (Verses 6-7). This tells of the 
suffering of Israel before they came into the possession 
of the land, a hint, no doubt, of the great truth so clearly 
revealed in Israel's history of the suffering of Christ and 
the Glory that should follow. Here the Spirit of God 
once more came to their consciences in this historical out- 
line of their father Abraham. Alas ! their hearts were 
closed. 

2. Joseph and his brethren. Verses 9-16. Stephen in 
his inspired testimony passes over the entire history of 
Isaac and Jacob, and Joseph instead is prominently men- 
tioned. The way the story of Joseph is given, the com- 
prehensive style is really marvelous. The complete history 
of the suffering and glory, the humiliation and exaltation 
of Joseph, is pictured in a few sentences and that in a manner 



129 



which greatly illuminates this interesting portion of God*s 
Word. In bringing Joseph at once before their hearts, 
what was done to him and to what place God exalted him, 
the Holy Spirit reveals one of the finest and most perfect 
types of Christ contained in the Word of God. The main 
issue of Stephen's testimony is before us with Joseph's 
history. " The patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph 
into Egypt." Their own brother, because they hated 
him without a cause, was sold by them into the hands 
of the Gentiles. The price was twenty pieces of silver. 
The meaning of this was so clear that the assembled council 
must have fully understood the application. The chief 
priests and elders had hated another one, who was, according 
to the flesh, their brother. And their hatred against him 
was on > account of envy. Pilate even knew this. "For 
he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy " 
(Mark xv:10). This Jesus of Nazareth, the name they 
hated so much, had been sold for thirty pieces of silver. 
His own had delivered Him into the hands of the Gentiles, 
as Joseph had been sold into Egypt. Then we read the brief 
sentence, " And God was with him." The same phrase is 
used by Peter in reference to Jesus in preaching to the 
household of Cornelius (Acts x:38). The council knew 
perfectly that God was with the One, whom they had con- 
demned. One of their own number, Nicodemus, had even 
come to the One, they despised and envied, with the declara- 
tion upon his lips " Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher 
come from God; for no man can do these miracles that 
thou doest, except God be with him" (John iii:2). 

A description of Joseph's exaltation follows. " And 
delivered him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor 
and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and he 
made him governor over Egypt and all his house." Then 
comes a brief account of the famine, which troubled the 
brethren of Joseph. They had to go and get bread from 



130 



the brother they had rejected. The second time Joseph 
was made known to his brethren. 

The typical meaning is obvious. God had also de- 
livered Him, whom they had rejected and crucified. He 
had raised Him from the dead and made Him, as Peter 
preached, both Lord and Christ. Then there is a great 
dispensational foreshadowing. The rejected One, like Jo- 
seph, is received by the Gentiles. Famine and tribulation 
awaits the nation who rejected Him who came to His own, 
they must suffer as Joseph's brethren suffered. " The 
second time Joseph was made known to his brethren," 
refers to the second coming of the Lord. Joseph was the 
salvation of his brethren. 

3. Moses as Deliverer rejected. The rejected One a 
Ruler and Deliverer. Verses 17-38. 

This is the largest section of Stephen's address. 

In Moses they boasted continually. They were proud 
of him as their law-giver, the mighty man who had led 
their fathers forth from the house of bondage, through 
whom the God of the Glory had performed His great mira- 
cles. They called him, and orthodox Jews do so still, 
"Moses, our teacher." What was his experience? Was 
he at once received by their forefathers? Did they ac- 
cept him when he came to deliver them? How was he 
treated? The Divine record is unrolled before their hearts 
and the history, so familiar to the council, speaks once more. 

Moses foreshadows likewise Christ. His experience out- 
lines the experience of Him, who is counted worthy of 
more glory than Moses (Hebrews iii:3-5). 

Stephen says " the time of the promise drew nigh, which 
God had sworn to Abraham " (Verse 17). God remembered 
His Word. The people were in bondage in Egypt and needed 
a deliverer. God provided the deliverer through whom 
the promise, because the time of the promise drew nigh, 



131 



should be accomplished. All is pregnant with meaning. 
The time of the promise of the coming of the Redeemer 
had indeed drawn nigh. He had appeared, whom God had 
sent to deliver His people. Had He been received? The 
story of Moses' rejection was repeated on a larger scale in the 
story of Jesus of Nazareth. 

First we find a description of Moses. He was born 
just in the time when the oppression was great; " in which 
time Moses was born." Even so, " when the fulness of 
time was come, God sent forth His son made of a woman, 
made under the law" (Gal. iv:4). Moses was "exceeding 
fair." The right translation is " fair to God;" he was 
exceedingly lovely. But how much more was He, who 
came from the Glory, the only begotten of the Father. 
Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians 
(Verse 22); Christ is the Wisdom. Moses was mighty 
in works and in deeds, but Christ was far more than that 
and manifested His divine power and grace in the midst 
of His people. The next thing said of Moses is that " he 
was cast out." The application of this to Christ we need 
not to follow in detail. When Moses was full grown, forty 
years, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children 
of Israel. He appeared for them as a deliverer out of the 
bondage and it is written " He supposed his brethren would 
have understood how that God by His hand would deliver 
them; but they understood him not" (Verse 25). He 
was rejected by those he had come to deliver. " Who made 
thee a ruler and a judge over us? " was the sneering word 
cast at him. Moses had to flee into a strange land and be 
among strangers for forty years. And something similar 
had but recently been repeated in the very midst of the 
people. The deliverer had appeared. He had visited 
His people and made Himself known to them; " God by 
His hand would deliver them." But His own had not 
received Him. They understood not; they cast Him 



132 



out and denied Him. Like Joseph, Moses went to the 
Gentiles, rejected by his people. The application to Christ 
is easily made and we do not follow it in its particulars. 

But Moses returned and the once rejected deliverer 
whom they knew not was after all the one who delivered 
them and brought them forth. " This Moses whom they 
refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the 
same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the 
hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He 
brought them out, after that he had showed wonders and 
signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea and in the 
wilderness forty years " (Verses 35-36). The Holy Spirit 
pressed home these great foreshadowings. Must they 
not have been reminded of the words spoken before by 
Peter? " The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom 
ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted 
with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour — " (Chap- 
ter v:30). "This is the stone which was set at nought 
of you builders, which is become the head of the corner " 
(Chapter iv:ll). These were familiar words to them 
carried to their consciences by the Holy Spirit and now 
through the historical record of Moses, the Moses of whom 
they boasted, the same truth is flashed before them once 
more. " This Moses " — the one who was rejected " The 
same did God send " meant " this Jesus, whom you cruci- 
fied — the same whom God sent and made Prince and 
Saviour." 

Significant too is the event of the burning bush, the 
angel of Jehovah had appeared there in His Glory to Moses 
and it was by the hand of that angel that Moses became 
the ruler and deliverer (Verse 35). Wonders and signs 
were then accomplished through him. Of this uncreated 
angel the council believed that He was Jehovah Himself, 
while their traditions well known and received at that 
time, spoke of Him as the Messiah. This same Jehovah 



133 



had been in their midst and manifested His presence by- 
wonders and signs. 

The Holy Spirit witnesses also in this to the truth, so 
often revealed, that in the future, at the second Coming 
of Christ (corresponding to the second time in the history 
of Joseph), the nation will know and accept Him, whom 
they rejected before. 

The history of Moses is the foreshadowing of the history 
of Christ. In Moses they believed and boasted. The 
accusation was that Stephen spoke against Moses. His 
testimony proves that he believes in Moses. But did 
the council really believe in Moses? The accused becomes 
the accuser. They did not believe in Moses and in his 
words. " This is that Moses, which said unto the children 
of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto 
you of your brethren like unto me; him shall ye hear." 
If they believed in this prediction as given by Moses they 
would have looked for that prophet, whose coming was 
promised by Moses. That it was fulfilled in the person 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter had stated in his second 
address (Acts iii:22-23). But they were unbelieving. 

4. The Story of their Apostasy and Shame. Verses 39-53. 

Even after the departure from Egypt and after witnessing 
the signs and wonders wrought, they did not obey Moses, 
they thrust him from them and their hearts turned back 
again to Egypt. So they had not obeyed Christ and had also 
thrust Him from them. This is followed by a brief rehearsal 
of their shameful history. They rushed into idolatry. 
They worshipped the host of heaven and during the wilder- 
ness journey they brought sacrifices to Moloch and Remphan 
(Amos v:25-27). Then their coming captivity had been 
announced. On account of the rejection of the One, who 
is greater than Moses, whose coming Moses had announced, 
greater apostasy and dispersion must follow. 



i:4 



Then he speaks of the tabernacle of witness in the wil- 
derness, made according to the fashion as seen by Moses 
and how they came under Joshua in possession of the Gen- 
tiles, who were driven out of the land (Verses 44— 45). } David 
is briefly mentioned. He found favour before God and 
desired to build a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But 
Solomon built Him a house. But the most High dwells 
not in places made with hands. Solomon himself had 
made this declaration (1 Kings viii:27) and the Prophet 
Isaiah had expressed the same truth (Is. lxvi:l-2). Further- 
more, the Glory and the Lord of the Glory, who dwelt once 
in the temple had departed; Ichabod (the Glory is departed) 
was written there.. But more than that the Lord who 
was present in the tabernacle and whose Glory had filled 
the house once had appeared in their midst and they had 
cast Him out and slain the Prince of Glory. Could then 
that temple be called any longer " a holy place " as they 
said in their accusation? The tale of the apostasy of the 
nation was thus told out from the records of the nation. 

But now the summing up comes. Perhaps through- 
out the discourse evidences of displeasure from the sides 
of the council must have been in evidence. If it had been 
in their power they would have stopped him before. They 
were, however, constrained to listen. - Another power 
compelled them to hear the arraignment of themselves 
and of the nation. The climax is reached. Most likely 
they began to grind their teeth already. Their dark sinister 
countenances showed the wrath and bitterness of Satan. 
They are cut in their consciences. Perhaps some arose 
and disorder was about to issue. 

Stephen ceases his retrospect. The Holy Spirit now 
addresses them directly. The accused Stephen becomes 
the mouthpiece of the Judge who pronounces the sentence. 

" Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, 
ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, 



135 



so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers 
persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before 
of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now 
the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law 
by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it." 

Every word was true. The entire testimony was unim- 
peachable. Stiffnecked and uncircumcised, resisting the 
Holy Spirit, persecuting the prophets who prophesied 
of Christ and the murderers of the Just One! This was 
their condition. With this the testimony of Stephen is 
ended; more than that the testimony to the nation is now 
to be closed. No longer is the offer to be made to Jerusalem. 

II. The Martyrdom of Stephen. 

When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and 
they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the 
Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of 
God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Be- 
hold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the 
right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and 
stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast 
him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down 
their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And 
they stoned Stephen, calling upon, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive 
my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, 
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said 
this, he fell asleep. (Verses 54-60.) 

And now the awful storm breaks. The arrows of the 
truth of God carried by the power of God's Spirit had cut 
to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 
In their madness they were dumb. They did not find 
words to give vent to their burning hatred which Satan 
had kindled in their stubborn, unbelieving hearts. All 
they could do in their frenzy was to gnash with their teeth. 
It was not a sudden outburst but the tense rather shows 
that it was prolonged. In the midst of this wicked crowd, 



no longer the council but a murderous mob, stood Stephen. 
If his face shone like that of an angel in the beginning of his 
testimony, what glory must have rested upon him now? 
The heavenly glory into which he was so soon to enter 
must have been wonderfully reflected upon his face. 

Three things are said of him. He was full of the Holy 
Spirit; he looked steadfastly into heaven seeing there the 
Glory of God and he saw Jesus standing on the right hand 
of God. 

The Holy Spirit in His fulness was upon him. He had 
testified through him and now as they are gnashing their 
teeth, ready to seize him and to follow Satan, who is a murderer 
from the beginning, to the full extent of his power, Stephen 
stands in great calmness and peace. The Holy Spirit who 
possessed him so fully directed his gaze away from the 
earth upward into Heaven. He looked steadfastly into 
heaven. This is one effect of the filling of the Spirit, the 
heart occupation with heavenly things. But more than 
that he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the 
right hand of God. The unspeakable Glory shone out of 
the depths of heaven and in that Glory he saw Jesus standing 
on the right hand of God. He of whom he had borne such 
a good witness, whose blessed name he had glorified in his 
life and by his words and whom he soon was to glorify in 
his triumphant death was seen by him. 

While we read in the epistles that the Lord sat down, 
on the right hand of God, the attitude which tells of His 
finished work, we read here that He was seen standing. 
This is not a contradiction. We do not think it was be- 
cause He was still waiting for Israel's repentance, ready 
to come back. He was seen standing because He had 
arisen from His seat to welcome into His own presence 
the faithful martyr. 

This is the first manifestation of the glorified Christ, 
which we have on record. There are three of them only. 



137 



He appeared here to Stephen. Then (oh! marvelous Grace!) 
He appeared unto Saul, who consented unto Stephen's 
death. Saul beheld Him in that Glory, brighter than 
the noon-day sun and heard His voice. The last time 
the glorified Christ manifested Himself was to John in 
the island of Patmos, These three appearings of the glori- 
fied Christ present to our view the three aspects of His 
Second Coming. First He comes to welcome His own 
into His presence. He will arise and come into the air 
to meet His beloved co-heirs there. This is represented 
by the first appearing to Stephen, standing to receive him. 
Then Israel will behold Him, they who pierced Him will 
see Him, like Saul of Tarsus beheld the Lord. Then He 
will appear as John saw Him, the One who judges the earth 
in righteousness. 

And now after this great and glorious vision, Stephen 
bears testimony to it. "Behold, I see the heavens opened, 
and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." 
He speaks of the Lord as "Son of Man." This is the only 
time outside of the Gospel records, that we find this title of 
the Lord (aside from the old Testament references in Hebrews 

But were not these familiar words to the frenzied council? 
Had they not heard One saying similar words? But a few 
weeks ago they had gazed upon Him, whom they hated and 
envied. The vision of that meek and lowly One must 
surely have come up before their eyes that very moment. 
And He had said in the presence of this very council, "From 
henceforth shall the Son of Man be seated at the right hand 
of the power of God" (Luke xxii: 69). And here is the echo 
of that solemn word on account of which the Holy One was 
condemned. But it is more than an echo. It is the witness 
that the Son of Man is there at the right hand of God. 

We do not read of an orderly trial which followed. All 
order was abandoned. Chaos and confusion reigned. They 



138 



cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears and ran 
- upon him with one accord. Stopping the ears is a frequent 
occurrence among orthodox Hebrews. We have talked with 
some of them and after pressing an argument about the Mes- 
siahship of Jesus, they would put their hands to their ears, 
as if to shut out any further argument. 

The Sanhedrim had been changed into a wild, furious, 
demon-possessed mob, bent on the murder of God's witness. 
One thing they do which was according to the law. They 
rushed him out of the city. Like the Lord Jesus Christ he 
was to suffer "without the gate." The law required this 
(Lev. xxiv: 14; Num. xv:35). And there they stoned 
Stephen. In this act they were lawbreakers for their own 
witness had been to the Roman authorities, "It is not lawful 
for us to put any man to death" (John xviii: 31). 

But they make a show of keeping the law. In Deut. xvii: 
7, it is written: "The hands of the witnesses shall be first 
upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of 
all the people." They had witnesses who began the awful 
work by casting stones upon him first. And that young Phar- 
isee of Cilicia took a prominent part in this terrible scene. 
He was a prominent figure in it. Saul of Tarsus stands in 
the foreground. If he was a member of the council, which is 
more than probable, then he heard the whole testimony of 
Stephen and consented to his death. In Acts xxii:20 we 
read that he said "I was standing by." This may mean that 
he had charge over what occurred. One thing is certain, he 
was intimate with the witnesses. They took off their upper 
garments so as to be freed to strike hard, and deposited their 
garments at the feet of Saul. 

And now the stoning began. The first thing Stephen did 
was to pray. He called upon the Lord. (The word God in 
the authorised version is inserted.) His prayer was addressed 
to the Lord Jesus, into whose hands he committed his spirit. 

Then he bowed his knees and with a loud voice he man- 



139 



ifested the love of Christ by forgiving his murderers, "Lord, 
lay not this sin to their charge." This prayer was answered 
in the conversion of that young man, whose name was Saul, 
for the responsibility and guilt was upon him, inasmuch as 
he had consented unto his death (Chapter viii: 1). 

Then Stephen fell asleep. The mighty witness closed his 
eyes on earth. But what a moment it must have been 
when his spirit was received by Him whose Glory and Per- 
son he beheld, and into whose hands he had committed his 
spirit. 

God's gracious offer and Christ had now been fully re- 
jected by the nation. Stephen, who bore this last witness, 
is a striking evidence of the transforming power of Christ. 
How much like the Lord he was ! 

He was filled with the Spirit, full of faith and power, and 
like the Lord he did great wonders and miracles among the 
people. Like Christ, he was falsely accused of speaking 
against Moses, the law and the temple, and of being a blas- 
phemer. They brought him before the same council and did 
what they did with the Lord, bringing false witnesses against 
him. He gave witness to the truth of the confession, the 
Lord had given before the council, that He was to sit at the 
right hand of God. He beheld Him there. The Lord Jesus 
committed His spirit in the Father's hands, and Stephen 
prayed that the Lord Jesus receive his spirit; and like the 
Lord he prayed for the forgiveness of his enemies. May the 
same power transform us all into the same image. 



140 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The final testimony to the rulers of the Jewish people 
had been given. It was rejected, and the Spirit-filled mes- 
senger killed. The last offer had therefore been completely 
rejected and the Gospel is now soon to be sent far hence to 
the Gentiles; those that are afar off are to be brought nigh. 
The eighth chapter is a transition chapter. The Gospel is 
preached in Samaria. The instrument used is not Peter or 
John, but Philip. 

We divide this chapter into five parts: 

I. The first great persecution (Verses 1-3.) 

II. The preaching of the scattered believers. Philip in 
Samaria (Verses 4-8). 

III. The events in Samaria (Verses 9-24). 

IV. The Gospel in many villages of Samaria (Verse 25). 

V. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Verses 26-40). 

I. The first great persecution. 

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time 
there was a great persecution against the church which was at 
Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the 
regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout 
men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation 
over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering 
into every house, and haling men and women committed them 
to prison. (Verses 1-3.) 

The first sentence with which this chapter starts belongs 
to the preceding chapter. The young Pharisee, who soon 
takes the prominent place in this book, was in perfect agree- 
ment with the awful deed committed. He rejoiced. The 
death of Stephen was with his fullest approval. He took 
pleasure in it. He was an eye-witness to the entire suffering 
of Stephen from the moment the dispute took place to the 
time when the stones fell upon him outside of the city and 



141 



his blood was shed. Later he refers to the scene, which must 
have been impossible for him to erase from his memory. 
"When the blood of Stephen was shed, I was standing by 
and keeping the garments of them that slew him" (Acts 
xxxii:20). Concerning Saul the Lord said to Ananias, "I 
will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's 
sake" (ix: 16). What was done unto Stephen was done unto 
Saul. The Jews and Saul with them, as we believe, disputed 
and resisted Stephen in the synagogue. The Jews disputed 
with Paul, resisted him, and rejected his testimony. Stephen 
was accused of blasphemy; so was Paul (Acts xix:37). 
Stephen was accused of speaking against Moses, the holy 
place and the customs; so was Paul (Acts xxi:28; xxiv:6; 
xxv :8; xxviii:17). They rushed upon Stephen with one 
accord and seized him. The same happened to Paul (Acts 
xix:29). Stephen was dragged out of the city. So was Paul 
(Acts xiv:19). Stephen was tried before the Sanhedrim; so did 
Paul appear before the Sanhedrim. Stephen was stoned and 
Paul was stoned at Lystra. Stephen suffered martyrdom; 
so did Paul in Rome. And yet, with all the sufferings that 
Paul had to undergo, he rejoiced. His eyes rested con- 
stantly upon that glorious one, whom Stephen, filled with 
the Holy Spirit, beheld in Glory. Later we hear him crying 
out from the prison in Rome, "That I may know Him, and 
the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suf- 
ferings, being made comformable unto His death" (Phil, 
iii: 10). 

The first great persecution then broke out against the 
church in Jerusalem. The words of the Lord concerning 
His own, that they were to suffer and to be hated, were fully 
carried out. Saul was evidently the leader. Perhaps from 
the very scene of bloodshed he led forth a mob of people, 
like so many tigers, having seen blood. There is no detailed 
account of the persecution. They were driven out of Jeru- 
salem. Houses were entered and men and women dragged 



142 



out of them and put into prison. The Epistle to the Hebrews, 
no doubt, refers to this first great persecution. "But call to 
remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illum- 
inated, ye endured a great fight of affliction. Partly while ye 
were made a gazing stock both by reproaches and afflictions; 
and partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so 
used. For ye had compassion on me in my bonds, and took 
joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves 
that ye have in heaven a better and enduring substance" 
(Heb. x:32-34). They were disgraced, flogged, their goods 
were taken from them and they were driven out of the city. 
All this they stood joyfully. There is no record of anyone 
appealing to the Roman law. How many believers would 
in our day endure such persecution! But even this was 
only the beginning. Hundreds of years followed of the most 
cruel and satanic persecutions in which uncountable num- 
bers were tortured, cast into dungeons, starved to death, 
burned alive, sawn asunder, cast before wild animals; every 
conceivable cruelty was practiced upon Christians. But the 
roaring lion had to withdraw, defeated. 

Saul is the leading figure in this great persecution. He 
ravaged and laid waste the church. What a miracle of 
grace to hear him later refer to his conduct, "I persecuted 
this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons, 
both men and women" (xxii:4). "I imprisoned and beat in 
every synagogue them that believed on Thee. And when 
the blood of Thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was 
standing by, and consenting unto His death, and kept the 
raiment of them that slew him" (Acts xxii:19, 20). "Which 
thing I did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints did I shut 
up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; 
and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against 
them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and com- 
pelled them to blaspheme, and, being exceedingly mad 
against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities" 



143 



(Acts xxvi:10, 11). He called himself a blasphemer and a per- 
secutor (lTim.i:13). What light these confessions of the great 
apostle shed upon the brief record here in our chapter. In 
the Epistle to the Galatians and in 1 Corinthians he declares 
that he persecuted the church of God (1 Cor. xv:9; Gal. i:13). 
This should for once dispel the new teaching which has 
arisen, that the church did not come into existence till Paul 
had received the revelation concerning the church. That the 
church began on the day of Pentecost is frequently denied. 
But how could Paul persecute the church, if there was no 
church at all? 

Then we see Stephen laid aside. His mangled body was 
carried by devout men to its resting place, while his spirit 
was in the presence of the Lord. These devout men were 
men like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Their lamenta- 
tions were a Jewish characteristic. The Hope of Glory was 
not known to them. Later even the Thessalonian Christians 
sorrowed as others, who have no hope (1 Thes. iv:13). Then 
was made known that "blessed Hope," which should forever 
dispel the sorrow and lamentations of God's people. But 
that hope was unknown in the beginning of Acts. 

II. The preaching of the scattered believers. Philip in 
Samaria. 

They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preach- 
ing the word. And Philip went down to the city of Samaria, 
and proclaimed unto them the Christ. And the multitudes gave 
heed with one accord unto the things that were spoken by Philip, 
when they heard, and saw the signs which he did. For from 
many of those which had unclean spirits, they came out, crying 
with a loud voice: and many that were palsied, and that were 
lame, were healed. And there was much joy in that city. (Verses 
4-8.) 

They were scattered abroad. Only the Apostles remained 
in Jerusalem (verse 1). This has been explained as a failure 



144 



on the side of the twelve. It is incorrect; God guided them 
and kept them there. That they were not arrested and also 
put into prison may perhaps be explained by the fact that 
they were not Hellenists, but natives of the land. The per- 
secution may have been the severest against the Grecian 
Jews. 

And now for the first time we learn that "the blood of 
the martyrs is the seed of the church." "The scattered 
believers went about preaching the Word." God permitted 
all these hardships, that the precious seed of His own Word 
might now be scattered abroad by the suffering saints. The 
Lord had said that they were to be His witnesses not only in 
Jerusalem, but also in Judea and in Samaria. This He 
accomplished by the suffering of His people. What a sight 
it must have been when they went north from Jerusalem! 
A stream of men, women and children, in bodily pain from 
the hands of cruel men, stripped of their belongings, pours 
forth from the gates of the city. They were cast upon the 
Lord as never before and the Lord became more real to their 
hearts. And then they went about preaching. Every one 
was a preacher. The great head of the church, not some eccle- 
siastical council, some committee, which ordained them and 
gave them authority, but the Lord Himself sent them out as 
His witnesses. Alas! what a contrast with ecclesiasticism of 
today with its man-made rules, its crystalized forms, ordi- 
nations, recognitions, etc. 

And such an exodus from the city, out of which the Lord 
had been led forth to suffer outside the gate, has been 
repeated over and over again in the history of the church 
with like gracious results in scattering the seed of the Word. 
We mention only the Waldenses and the Huguenots. Satanic 
powers produced the first great persecution. But the wrath 
of the enemy had to praise the Lord. Out of it all there was 
brought Glory to Himself. 

And now Philip comes in view. He was not an Apostle, 



145 



but a Grecian Jew, one of the seven which had been chosen 
to look after the poor. The first great missionary move was 
therefore not accomplished by apostolic authority, or apos- 
tolic leadership, nor by the decree of an apostolic council, 
but by the Lord Himself, who chose His own instrument and 
led him forth into the field. 

And He led Philip to Samaria where He Himself had gone, 
yea, to the very city of Samaria, which is Sychar. There He 
had once gone on the weary journey, and tired on account 
of the way, "He sat thus on the well" (John iv). The servant 
of the Lord Jesus Christ went the same road. What a com- 
fort to remember when the servant is tired that He knows 
of this weariness. The Samaritans were not a race of stran- 
gers altogether, but they had Israelitish blood in them. 
They had claimed to possess the true law and the temple. 
A division was the result and they were hated. As we read 
in the Gospel of John, "The Jews have no dealings with the 
Samaritans" (John iv: 9). The soil there, however, had been 
prepared. The Samaritans in large numbers had believed 
on Him, for the words of the woman with whom the Lord 
had that memorable conversation at Jacob's well. They 
invited the Lord to tarry, and many more believed on Him 
and these said unto the woman, "Now we believe not be- 
cause of thy saying, for we have heard Him ourselves, and 
know indeed that this is the Christ, the Saviour of the 
world" (John iv:42). Among this people Philip appeared 
and preached Christ. With one accord they gave heed to 
these things. Had he preached something else it would not 
have been so. The great message still is to preach Christ. 
Miracles also took place. Unclean spirits were driven out, 
many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed, so 
that there was great joy in that city. These miracles in 
Samaria were of special significance of which we shall hear 
in the verses which follow. 

Philip did miracles in connection with preaching the Gos- 



146 



pel. Unclean spirits are especially mentioned. They came 
out of many which were possessed by them. Like Judea, 
Samaria seems to have been much afflicted by demon pos- 
sessions. The city where Philip preached and the miracles 
were done, rejoiced greatly. "There was great joy in that 
city" (verse 8). Miracles were in order then because the 
Word of God was not yet complete. Now after the Rev- 
elation of God is complete, miracles are no longer a neces- 
sity. Faith rests upon the Word of God and not upon mir- 
acles. The verses which follow show that there was a special 
significance in the miracles done by Philip in Samaria. 

III. The Events in Samaria. 

But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime 
in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Sa- 
maria, giving out that himself was some great one: To whom 
they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This 
man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, 
because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. 
But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning 
the kingdon of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were 
baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed 
also; and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and 
wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. 
(Verses 9-24.) 

A sinister person is now introduced in this historical ac- 
count. Simon Magus, as he is called, was an instrument of 
Satan — most likely used in a special way to keep the Samar- 
itans in darkness and counteract the work of the Lord, 
which had been accomplished there (John iii). He had 
bewitched the Samaritans, who were much given to all kinds 
of superstitions. The superstitiousness of this people resulted 
in the fall of Pontius Pilate. About the year 35 A.D., a 
deceiver had appeared in Samaria and claimed that the 
sacred vessels were hidden by Moses on Mount Gerizim 
and that he would discover them. A very large multitude 



147 y 



followed him, but Pilate was there also with soldiers and 
drove the people away. Large numbers of them were killed. 
The Samaritans made a complaint to Vitellius, the proconsul 
of Syria, who had Pilate dispatched to Rome to be tried. 
Simon was one of the numerous persons who preached all 
kinds of evil and forbidden things. With his wicked sorceries 
he had ensnared the people. Suetonius, a Roman historian, 
who lived in the first part of the second century of our era, 
gives the information that the whole eastern countries were 
at that time overrun with all kinds of wonder-workers, 
astrologers, healers and necromancers. One of the greatest 
was Apollonius of Tyanaeus, who died about 97 A.D. He 
was a great sorcerer and worker of miracles. His life and 
supposed miracles were often compared with those of our 
Lord. Satan had anticipated the coming of the Gospel and 
used this man to keep the Samaritans in bondage, to counter- 
feit the power of God, and to oppose the truth. Simon used 
sorcery, and had amazed the Samaritans with his acts of 
sorceries. Satan revealed his powers through him, and Simon 
himself claimed to be some great one, perhaps the incarna- «■ 
tion of some higher being. The people of Samaria had 
believed him and his lying wonders, and even called him 
"that Power of God which is called Great." He was a false 
prophet and his signs and miracles he did, sprung from an 
evil source. All this is full of significance. Satan still 
counterfeits the Power of God. For the end of this present 
age there is predicted the manifestation of Satan in all 
power and signs and lying wonders (2 Thess. ii:9). As the 
age nears its close and with it the advent of the Lord Jesus 
Christ in power and glory, Satan with his host of demons 
becomes increasingly active, ensnaring the people and lead- 
ing on into blindness those who reject the Gospel. As in 
the days of the Evangelist Philip, so now he uses men as his 
instruments. Simon Magus is reproduced in our days not 
only in persons who, deluded as they are, claim to be some 



148 



great one, but in systems, such as Spiritualism, Christian 
Science and Millennial Dawnism. 

The hour of deliverance came for the Samaritans when 
Philip preached the Word, concerning the Kingdom of God 
and the name of Jesus Christ. Signs and great miracles 
followed, and the Samaritans believed and were baptized. 
The miracles were done to show the power of God, to attest 
the preaching of the Gospel by Philip, and to expose the 
counterfeit powers of Simon. And he, like the sorcerers of 
Egypt, had to own that this was the power of God. He was 
amazed when he beheld the great miracles. But more than 
that, he also believed, was baptized and then continued 
with Philip. But his faith was not through the Word of 
God. God's word alone can produce faith in man, for faith 
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Simon 
was captivated by the miracles he had seen. He believed 
in the same way as the many of whom we read in John ii. 
"Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, on the feast 
day, many believed in His name, when they saw the miracles 
He did." But was this the true faith? Was this a saving 
faith? Are miracles necessary to believe? The last two 
verses of the second chapter of John answer these questions. 
"But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He 
knew all and needed not that any should testify of man; for 
He knew what was in man." He knew their believing on 
Him was not in truth. And so Simon Magus believed in the 
c miracles. He also submitted to water baptism from the 
hands of Philip, which completely disproves that unscrip- 
tural teaching that water baptism is a saving ordinance, 
and that the new birth takes place in that act. He continued 
with Philip. This also is significant. He kept close in the 
company of the evangleist, no doubt to watch him and see 
whether he could discover the secret of the power of Philip. 
In the truth, in the Word of God, that wicked man had abso- 
lutely no part, Philip did not discern him. The attitude of 



149 



Simon and his outward profession must, therefore, have been 
very cleverly devised. The discovery, however, came when 
Peter and John appeared in Samaria. 

Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that 
Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them 
Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for 
them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he 
was fallen upon none of them; only they were baptized in the 
name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, 
and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that 
through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was 
given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, 
that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 
But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because 
thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with 
money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter; for thy heart 
is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy 
wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart 
may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall 
of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. (Verses 14-24.) 

From Jerusalem, Peter and John were sent by the apostles 
to Samaria. The Holy Spirit had not been given to the 
Samaritans. After the two apostles had prayed for them 
and laid their hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit. 
This fact, that the Holy Spirit was given after the prayer of 
Peter and John, has led to erroneous teaching. 

Ritualistic Christendom uses this passage in the defence 
of its traditional teachings of apostolic succession and dif- 
ferent rites, which have no foundation in the Scriptures. A 
recent commentary on the Book of Acts makes the follow- 
ing remarks on these verses: "The Apostles supposed that 
the Holy Spirit would be given in answer to prayer and the 
laying on of their hands. Their expectation was justified; 
and the church has accepted this as the normal method. Luke 
gives us, in all, four accounts of the outpouring of the Holy 
Spirit (Chapters ii; viii; x and xix). On two occasions 



150 



Pentecost and Cornelius household) the gift itself was 
extraordinary. The two other occasions (Samaritans and 
disciples at Ephesus) were normal, and the gift was conveyed 
by prayer and the laying on of hands. These hands were 
apostolic; in the one case, those of Peter and John, in the 
other of Paul. Nowhere in the Acts is the laying on of 
hands by other than apostles mentioned in this connection; 
and it is evident from this incident that, although Philip was 
a prophet and one of the seven, although he preached the 
Word and baptized, yet he did not possess this power. We 
conclude then that, as Luke states it, through the laying on 
of the hands of the apostles the Spirit is given. We are justified 
then, in finding here the beginning of the church's rite of 
confirmation." 

Thus ritualism claims through the laying on of hands by 
men who are ordained through others, who likewise received 
ordination, and so back to the apostolic times to confer the 
gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Another erroneous teaching, built on the apostles com- 
municating the Holy Spirit to these new believers, is one 
which becomes more frequent and is the source of much 
confusion among sincere Christians. It is taught from this 
historical account that a person may be a believer without 
possessing the Holy Spirit. The reception of the Holy Spirit, 
it is claimed, is a work entirely distinct from conversion. 
A Christian believer may be saved for a long time and be 
entirely destitute of the Holy Spirit; in order to receive 
Him, the believer must seek the experience and receive the 
Spirit; this is a very widespread teaching. The case of the 
Samaritans is often quoted to uphold this teaching. 

All these wrong interpretations and wrong teachings 
would be avoided if the dispensational character of this 
part of the Acts of the Apostles were recognized. We have 
no teaching concerning the Holy Spirit and how He 
is to be received in this passage, The doctrine of the 



151 



Spirit and how the believer receives Him and His work in 
the believer is not taught in the Acts of the Apostles. This 
is a historical account, and if one holds to this and to the fact 
that Samaria (John iv: 19-24) had a controversy with Jeru- 
salem, the coming of the Apostles from Jerusalem, and the 
withholding of the Holy Spirit from the Samaritans till Peter 
and John arrived, becomes plain at once. 

The Samaritan believers had to be identified with those in 
Jerusalem, so much the more because there was a schism 4 
between Samaria and Jerusalem. Samaria had denied both 
the city of Jerusalem and the temple. This had to be 
ended and could no longer be tolerated. It was therefore • 
divinely ordered that the gift of the Spirit in their case 
should be withheld till the two apostles came from Jerusalem. 
This meant an acknowledgment of Jerusalem; if the Holy 
Spirit had been imparted unto them at once it might have 
resulted in a continuance of the existing rivalry. And 
Peter is in the foreground and uses the keys here with the 
Samaritans as he did on the day of Pentecost with the Jews 
and later with the Gentiles. Nowhere in the church epistles, 
in which the great salvation truths and blessings in Christ 
Jesus are revealed, is there a word said about receiving the 
Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, or that one who has 
trusted in Christ and is born again should seek the gift of 
the Holy Spirit afterward. When we reach the nineteenth 
chapter of this book we shall follow this at greater length. 

There is no record here that the gift of the Spirit was 
attended by outward signs, such as speaking in tongues. 
Some manifestation must have accompanied the gift, for 
Simon "saw" that the Holy Spirit was given by the apostles' 
hands. Then the wickedness of his heart was revealed 
when he offered them money for the same power to impart 
the gift. He is now completely uncovered. No work of 
God had been produced in his soul or he would not have 
uttered such wicked words. His whole desire was to get 



152 



power and pay for it. He made merchandise of that which 
is the gift of God, and all for his own advantage and for 
vainglory. And this sin, which has been termed "Simony," 
is still alive in many different phases. One must think here 
in connection with Simon of the present day movement 
called "Christian Science." This system uses no doubt 
occult things and contains philosophical speculation, which 
were not unknown to Simon the Sorcerer. But to become 
a successful healer a certain sum of money must be paid. 
The secret of power to heal is sold. And what else could 
one say of the more subtle forms of this sin? And now the 
two Simons face each other, Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 
Peter at once detected the wicked heart of the man through 
whom the enemy of God had spoken. In holy indignation 
and condemnation Peter burst forth: "Thy money perish 
with thee!" The sorcerer with his wicked heart thought that 
the Gift of God could be purchased with money. In this 
the aim was the Gospel itself. Salvation and all that is 
connected with it, including the Spirit, is the Gift of God, 
without money and without price; it cannot be earned nor 
bought. He had no part nor lot in this matter. And this 
is true of all who in the depravity of their hearts think of 
obtaining the power of God by what they do. He sees himself 
uncovered and exposed "in the gall of bitterness and bond of 
iniquity" in spite of his outward profession, his baptism and 
association with Philip. And while Peter thus spoke these 
burning words against him, he also exhorted him to repent- 
ance and prayer. Simon Magus is a type of what apostate, 
self-centered, self-seeking Christendom is, as well as of that 
person who is the "son of perdition," the personal Anti- 
christ. And what had Simon to answer? "Then answered 
Simon and said: Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of 
these things which ye have spoken come upon me" (Verse 24). 

He was alarmed. He trembled like the demons, who 
believe and tremble. There is no confession from his lips, 



153 



no self-judgment. He does not exhibit confidence in the Lord 
nor does he ask for forgiveness. He was not moved by re- 
pentance, but only by fear. We do not read anything again 
of him in the Word of God. 

Much is reported of Simon the sorcerer by the most 
ancient sources, the writings of the so-called fathers. Justin 
Martyr, who was a native of Samaria, who lived about 
a hundred years later, tells us that Simon held the doctrines 
of Gnosticism (the same which have appeared in a modern 
garb in Christian Science) and that the Samaritans wor- 
shipped him as a divine being. Epiphanius declares that 
he claimed deity among the Samaritans and that he was 
a Messianic pretender. Other sources say that he became 
after this a greater enemy of the truth, and having lost 
his prestige in Samaria he went to Rome and there estab- 
lished a wicked movement, which became a gall and bitterness 
to the true believers there. That he should have met Peter 
again in Rome and found his end there is only a legend. 
It is certain that he did not repent. 

But the Gospel stream was not arrested. The acts of 
the enemy came to naught. The roaring lion as exhibited 
in the Sanhedrim the first persecutions — the more cunning 
deception of the counterfeit Simon, the sorcerer, all came 
to naught. 

IV. The Gospel in many villages of Samatia. 

And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the 
Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many 
villages of the Samaritans. (Verse 25.) 

The apostles had accomplished their mission. They 
are turning homeward. On that journey they carried 
out the divine commission to be His witnesses in Samaria. 
Many villages heard the Gospel from their lips and with 
joyful hearts they declared the good news. What stir it 
must have made! They followed the Lord who had gone 



154 



through Samaria, and what joy it must have been in these 
Samaritan villages when these two Jews heralded the good 
news! This is the last thing reported of John in the Book 
of Acts. Besides the Epistle to Galatians we hear his 
name only mentioned in the Apocalypse. 

V. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. 

And an angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and 
go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jeru- 
salem, unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, 
behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under 
Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her 
treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was return- 
ing, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then 
the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 
And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet 
Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he 
said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he de- 
sired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place 
of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to 
the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened 
he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken 
away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken 
from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray 
thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some 
other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same 
Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on 
their way, they came unto a certain water:' and the eunuch said, 
See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And he 
commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went doavn both 
into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptked him. 
And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the 
Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and 
he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: 
and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to 
Cesarea. (Verses 26-40.) 

The last part of our chapter contains the most interesting 
account of the acts of Philip. Called by the Head of the 
church to go forth as an Evangelist to Samaria, after his 



155 



work was finished in Jerusalem, he had been mightily used 
in preaching the Gospel. There is no record of the numbers 
who were saved. When the Gospel was preached in Jeru- 
salem by Peter we hear of numbers (chapters ii:41; iv:4), 
because it was still an offer to the Jewish nation in connec- 
tion with the promised Kingdom, but now as Jerusalem has 
rejected that offer and the Gospel goes forth to Samaria, and 
to the Gentiles, numbers are no longer mentioned. During 
this age the number of those who accept the Gospel and be- 
come members of the body of Christ, the church, is un- 
known. One of the sad features of present day Evangelism 
with its sensationalism are the reports of how many con- 
verts have been made, how many signed cards or promised 
to lead a better life. To what untruths and other evils such 
methods lead we need not to follow here. 

Philip's ministry was greatly blest and so will every 
ministry still be used if it is done as under the Lord, in 
humility and dependence upon Himself. With such a suc- 
cessful field before him Philip might have settled down to 
strengthen the new converts and reach out after other places 
in Samaria. But the work of the Evangelist is to move 
about and preach the Gospel from place to place. Philip is 
commanded to change his place of testimony. The com- 
mand was communicated to him by an angel of the Lord. It 
was a heavenly messenger who was used to direct his way. 

The angel may not have appeared to Philip in visible form, 
for the text tells us that he spoke to him and does not men- 
tion anything else. His message informs Philip of the way 
he is to take. Later in the account when it is the question of 
imparting spiritual instruction and dealing with the eunuch 
not an angel, but the Spirit speaks to Philip. The direction 
of the angel calls Philip away from his pleasant field of 
labor into a lonely and desert road. How many objections 
he might have made to such a call. Why should he leave the 
populous city and villages of Samaria where the multitudes 



156 

heard him gladly and go on a journey which would 
him into an uninhabited region and to a deserted city?* 
Philip realized his place as a servant and that the servant's 
work is to be obedient to his Master. His Lord had been in 
Samaria and Philip had reaped what the Lord had sown. 
He had been sent to reap that upon which he had not be" 
stowed any labor (John iv:36-38). And now the Lord 
called and he obeyed. He arose and went. Obedience to 
the Lord is a beautiful thing and must always result in 
blessing. Happy is the servant who can say " I do always 
the will of Him that sent me." If this is the attitude and 
the hearts desire the Lord will direct and show us the way 
in which we are to go. Such a life of dependence on the 
Lord and obedience to the Lord is truly great and will bring 
an abundant harvest. The obedient Philip may also be 
looked upon as a type of the nation itself. Some day the 
remnant of Israel will go forth in obedience to the call of the 
Lord and publish good tidings. Then it will be fulfilled 
what is written in Isaiah. 

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that 
bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good 
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, 
Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with 
the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, 
when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing 
together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted 
his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made 
bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of 
the earth shall see the salvation of our God. (Isaiah lii:7-8.) 

But while the Lord had His eyes upon His toiling servant 



*Gaza was deserted then. Gaza was a fortress in the extreme south 
of Palestine. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great in the fourth 
century before Christ. What was not destroyed by him was in the 
year 96 completely overthrown by the Maccabaean prince Alexander 
so that it was literally a desert. 



157 



and directed him in the way, He also saw and knew the 
inquiring, hungry soul which traveled along that road to- 
wards Gaza. He knew his heart and his longing for the 
truth and then He brought Philip to meet this soul and 
through Him He graciously brought light and blessing to the 
eunuch. And thus He works still. Oh! for more childlike 
confidence in His guidance! A blessed thing it is to watch 
His leadings and to see His hand in even the minutest things. 

The person journeying, most likely in a caravan, on the 
road to Gaza, was a man from Ethiopia. He was a eunuch 
of great authority under Candace Queen of the Ethiopians; 
he was her treasurer. He had been in Jerusalem to worship, 
most likely to attend the feast of Pentecost and was sitting 
in his chariot reading the prophet Isaiah. Who Queen 
Candace was, and in what part of Ethiopia her kingdom 
existed is learned from the Roman writer Pliny, and the 
Greek geographer Strabo. Both declare that there were 
several queens by that name ruling over the Ethiopians. 
The head of her kingdom was Meroe. 

The eunuch was one of those who looked to Jerusalem, 
for light and blessing and had gone there to worship. He 
returned unsatisfied, still a seeker. As eunuch he was by 
the law an outcast and could not enter the congregation of 
Israel; however blessings are promised to the eunuchs in 
the very book from which he was reading (Isaiah lvi:3-5). 
And then the Spirit directed Philip to join himself to the 
chariot. The Ethiopian read the book of Isaiah aloud and 
Philip's question addressed to him was, "Understandest 
thou what thou readest?" He was reading the Greek trans- 
lation of that all important chapter, the fifty-third. He 
read of Him who was led as a sheep to the slaughter and 
opened not his mouth. By his question the eunuch showed 
his ignorance in the Scriptures. He did not know that the 
passage had any reference to the Servant of the Lord, the 
Messiah of Israel. "One would wonder that whilst he was 



158 



at Jerusalem he should have heard nothing concerning 
Jesus. Or perhaps what he heard of Him was the occasion 
of his studying at this time that passage in Isaiah's pro- 
phecy."* 

It was then on that lonely road that Philip preached 
Jesus unto him. He began at the same Scripture, which in- 
deed is a good starting point. And the message Philip 
preached, showing Jesus as the One in whom these prophecies 
were fulfilled, was at once accepted by the seeking eunuch. 
He who by the law is excluded from the congregation of 
Israel is now received into another congregation, even joined 
to the Lord and added to the company which are saved. 
Nothing could hinder baptism, for he had believed; he him- 
self asks to be baptized. 

We have omitted the 37th verse. It does not belong into 
the text at all, but is an interpolation. The profession of 
faith put by this verse in the mouth of the Ethiopian antici- 
pates Paul. The first time that Christ is preached that He 
is the Son of God is in Acts ix:20. Peter preached Him 
as the rejected Jesus of Nazareth, raised from the dead and 
Philip simply preached Jesus. It was reserved for Paul to 
declare the fulness of the Gospel of the Son of God, that 
Gospel of which he writes to the Galatians " I neither re- 
ceived it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revela- 
tion of Jesus Christ" (Gal. i:12). The- best Greek manu- 
scripts have not the verse, which speaks of the eunuch's con- 
fession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We do well 
to omit verse 37, as it is also done in the revised version. 

The baptism takes place. Both Philip and the eunuch 
went down into the water and when they were come up out of 
the water the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip and 
the eunuch saw him no more. Philip's mission was accom- 
plished and now a miraculous event takes place. This is an 



*Lightfoot in Hebrew and Talmudical exercitations upon the Acts. 



159 



interesting occurrence. The Greek word for et catching 
away " is used a number of times in the New Testament and 
means each time an action by power. It is found eleven 
times in the New Testament. In Matthew xi:12; xiii:19; 
John vi:15; x:12; 28. Acts xiii:39; xxiii:10; 2 Cor. xii:2,4; 
1 Thess. iv:17; Jude 23; Revel. xii:5. It is interesting to 
see that in the account of Paul's rapture into the third heaven 
this word is used and also in the divine revelation concerning 
the coming of the Lord for His Saints (1 Thess. iv:17). The 
catching away of Philip after the work was accomplished 
is a little type of what will take place some day by the 
mighty power of God, when all the living believers will be 
removed from the scene of their present labors. " Caught 
up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air," this is the blessed 
and imminent future of all God's children. 

And the eunuch? What became of him? Did he go to 
the queen and did he give up his treasurership and become 
a great Evangelist through whom all Ethiopia was con- 
verted? Tradition may tell us these things but the divine 
record is silent. The time was not then nor has it come 
since that time, that " Princes come out of Egypt, Ethiopia 
shall soon stretch out her hands unto God " (Psa. lxviii:31); 
the fulfillment of this is reserved for the Millennial reign 
of Christ over the earth. The Holy Spirit has just one little 
sentence about the eunuch. But it is a most precious state- 
ment He makes concerning the Ethiopian who had received 
the knowledge of the truth and had believed the Gospel. 
" He went on his way rejoicing." He had Christ and well 
could he go on his way with joy unspeakable and full of 
glory. And, dear reader, this sentence should express the 
experience of every true believer. If we have Christ and are 
His and He is ours, if we know we are saved, and safe and 
have before us nothing but glory, then we too should go 
on our way rejoicing. Yea, even when trials and perplexi- 
ties surround our path, the joy in the Lord must be 



160 



our portion. Anything less dishonors the Lord and the 
Gospel. 

Philip was found some 20 miles north of Gaza, at Azotus. 
From there he started out anew preaching the Gospel. In 
many cities his voice was heard, these coast cities were in- 
habited by many Gentiles and included larger places like 
Jamnia, Lydda, Joppa and Antipatris. The day of Christ 
will make known the labors and also the reward of this 
great Evangelist. Then he came to Caesarea. But did he 
stop with that? We know not. Twenty years later we shall 
find him there and Paul was then his guest. 



161 



CHAPTER IX. 

The previous chapter may be looked upon in its main 
part as a parenthesis. The record now leads us back to the 
close of the seventh chapter and the person who was con- 
nected with the great tragedy enacted there is prominently 
brought before us. The witnesses of the wicked deed had 
laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name 
was Saul. This is the first time this remarkable man is 
mentioned. We also learned that he was consenting unto 
Stephen's death; he made havoc of the church and com- 
mitted men and women to prison. While the scattered be- 
lievers had carried the Gospel throughout Judea, Philip had 
gone down to Samaria and with great results preached the 
Gospel, and during the same time Peter and John preached 
in the Samarian villages, Saul carried on his work of perse- 
cution. This we learn from the opening verse of the present 
chapter. "And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and 
slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high 
priest." The conversion of this great persecutor and his call 
by the risen and glorified Lord to be the Apostle to the Gen- 
tiles is the event which is next described. It is the greatest 
event recorded in Acts next to the outpouring of the Holy 
Spirit on the day of Pentecost. 

Before we expound the most important account of Saul's 
conversion and point out its extremely interesting lessons, 
it may be in order to give a brief description of the young 
man, who takes the leading part in the remaining portion of 
the Book of Acts. 

Saul was born in Tarsus, an old city, and the capital of 
Cilicia. In that city was situated a great university given 
mostly to the study of Philosophy. Josephus in agreement 



162 



with Jewish literature identified the city with Tarshish, to 
which Jonah attempted to flee. Saul has often been called 
a "Hellenist," that is, a Grecian Jew. But this is easily 
answered by his own words, "a Hebrew of the Hebrews." 
He belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, and his father was 
likewise a member of the same class, for Saul called himself 
"a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee" (Acts xxiii:6). His 
bringing up was on the strictest Jewish order. All the obser- 
vances of the law and the traditions of the elders were con- 
scientiously followed by him. This fact he calls to mind 
when he wrote his great defense of the Gospel to the Gala- 
tians. "For ye have heard," he states, "of my conversation 
in time past in the Jew's religion, how that beyond measure 
I persecuted the Church of God, and wasted it. And profited 
in the Jew's religion above many my equals in mine own 
nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of 
my fathers" (Gal. i:13, 14). He also witnesses of his life 
before the Grace and Power of God converted him, when he 
wrote to the Philippians, "Circumcised the eighth day, of 
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of 
the Hebrews as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning 
zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness, 
which is in the law, blameless" (Phil. iii:5, 6). 

This young Pharisee had a strong belief in the God of 
Israel, in His promises and the destiny of Israel. This 
belief manifested itself outwardly in a zeal for God.* While 
he was thus filled with pride of race, zeal for God, but without 



*The same zeal possessed him of which he speaks as possessing his 
brethren according to the flesh. 

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that 
they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal 
for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant 
of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own 
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness 
of. God (Rom. x:l-3). 



163 



knowledge, striving to attain righteousness, to fulfill and 
obey the very letter of the law, he had an intense hatred of 
what he supposed to be disloyalty to the law. In Tarsus, 
his native city, he became fully acquainted with Greek 
customs, Greek life, literature, art and philosophy. The 
local industry of Tarsus was tent making. These tents were 
manufactured out of goat's hair. This trade the young Saul 
learned. Teaching boys a certain trade is an ancient Jewish 
custom. His family may have been very influential and 
wealthy. He had a married sister living in Jerusalem, who 
must have been very highly connected (Acts xxiii:16). Saul 
of Tarsus was furthermore a Roman citizen. This was a 
high honor and privilege. It could be bought for large 
sums of money. When Paul was about to be scourged he 
mentioned his Roman citizenship. The chief captain, a 
Greek by the name of Claudius Lysias (Acts xxiii:26), said: 
"With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, 
But I was .ree born" (Acts xxii:28). The prisoner held a 
higher honor than the captain; no wonder Claudius Lysias 
was afraid. His family must have had the Roman citizen- 
ship conferred upon them as a mark of distinction or reward 
for some eminent service. 

Saul received his religious education in Jerusalem. We 
listen again to his own words, "I am verily a man, a Jew, 
born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city 
(Jerusalem) at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according 
to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was 
zealous toward God, as ye are all this day" (Acts xxii:3). 
Gamaliel was the greatest rabbi of the Pharisees, the presi- 
dent of the Sanhedrim. He was the son of Simon and 
grandson of the celebrated Hillel. We have found his name 
before in the fifth chapter. He was highly esteemed for his 
learning. The Talmud says, "When he died the honor of 
the Torah (law) ceased, and purity and piety became 
extinct." At the feet of this great and learned man, Saul of 



164 



Tarsus sat. That Saul was highly respected in Jerusalem 
and close to the leaders of the people, is seen by the letters 
entrusted to him and the commission to Damascus. He 
may have been even a member of the council, for "he voted." 
"When they (Christians) were put to death, I gave my 
voice (lit., my vote) against them" (Acts xxvi:10). It may 
be interesting to say a word on his outward appearance. He 
has frequently been pictured as a tall, handsome-looking 
man. But in 2 Corinthians x:10 we read otherwise. The 
Corinthians were used to the athletic figures of the Greeks. 
Of Paul they said, "His letters are weighty and powerful; 
but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contempt- 
ible." A very old apocryphal book, dating back to the end 
of the first century, "Acta Pauli et Theclae" has an interest- 
ing description of his person, which may be genuine. "A 
man of moderate stature, with crisp hair, crooked legs, blue 
eyes, large knit brows, and long nose, at times looking like 
a man, at times like an angel." And now we turn to the 
chapter before us. It is divided into five parts. 

I. The Vision of Glory on the road to Damascus (Verses 
1-9). 

II. The Call to Ananias (Verses 10-16). 

III. Saul filled with the Spirit, Baptized and Preaching 
Jesus, that He is the Son of God (Verses. 17-22). 

IV. Saul Persecuted and back in Jerusalem (Verses 23- 
30). 

V Further Acts of Peter (Verses 31-43). 

I. The Vision of Glory on the road to Damascus. 

And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against 
the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of 
him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any 
of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring 
them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near 
Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from 



165 V 



heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto 
him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art 
thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou perse- 
cutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he 
trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and 
it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which jour- 
neyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no 
man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were 
opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought 
him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and 
neither did eat nor drink. (Verses 1-9.) 

We behold then, this young Pharisee in the zenith of his 
hatred against the disciples of the Lord. He breathed out 
threatenings and slaughter. His aim was much like Haman 
the Agagite, who wanted all Jews exterminated; so Saul 
was bent on the extermination of the believers in the Lord. 
The fact that he came to the high priest for letters to go to 
Damascus would show that he considered his work of per- 
secution and scattering in Jerusalem about completed. There 
were several large synagogues in Damascus. As this city 
was in constant communication with Jerusalem, the Jews in 
Damascus must have heard much of the new and startling 
events which so recently had come to pass in Jerusalem. The 
day of Pentecost, in all probability, brought many Damas- 
cene Jews to Jerusalem, and perhaps some of them heard the 
message from Peter's lips. The good news was carried 
quickly in a short time; believers appeared in Rome at an 
early date, among them two, Andronicus and Junia, who were 
in Christ before Paul's conversion (Rom. xvi:7). Damascus 
had most likely a good number of Jews who believed in Jesus 
as the Christ. They had, however, not separated from the 
synagogue. The leader of them must have been Ananias, 
and of him Paul says later "a devout man according to the 
law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there" 
(chapter xxii:12). The news of Saul's commission to arrest 



166 



believers in the Lord Jesus Christ had also preceded him, for 
Ananias in his simplicity told the Lord, "he hath authority 
from the chief priests to bind all that call on Thy Name" 
(ix:14). No doubt they must have earnestly prayed for de- 
liverance from this great persecutor. He received his letters 
and went on his journey with a heart filled with burning 
hatred. 

And now God's marvelous Grace and Power in salvation 
is to be manifested. Israel as a nation had rejected the 
offer and Stephen's death marked the end of that gracious 
offer. But God can manifest even greater riches of His 
Grace and display His great Love. Saul not alone belonged 
to the nation, which had rejected Christ, but shared in that 
rejection, but he was, so to speak, the heading up of all the 
hatred and malignity against the Christ of God. He person- 
ified the blindness, unbelief and hatred of the whole nation. 
He was indeed an enemy, the greatest enemy, the chief of 
sinners. Surely only Grace could save such a one, and Grace 
it is, which is now to be manifested in the conversion of Saul 
of Tarsus, the Grace, which he was to know first by the 
vision of the glorified Christ, and which he, ever after, was 
to proclaim and make known to others. And therefore he 
could say, "Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in 
me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering, for 
a pattern to them, which should hereafter believe on Him to 
life everlasting" (1 Tim. i:16). And we may also look upon 
the wonderful event which took place on the road to Damas- 
cus as a direct answer to Stephen's dying prayer and the first 
fruits of the blood of the first martyr. Stephen saw heaven 
opened; he beheld Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 
he saw the glory. We have mentioned before that Saul, the 
young Pharisee, stood by and beheld that uplifted face as it 
reflected the heavenly glory. He heard the words of Stephen 
testifying of this great vision and perhaps, as Stephen knelt 
down under the shower of stones, which fell upon him, he 



167 



saw the dark face of the young Pharisee Saul, and then 
for him and all who shared in the vile deed, he prayed 
that Christ-like prayer, Lord, lay not this sin to 
their charge. And now the heavens are opened once 
more. He, the chief of sinners, the religious Jew, who 
hated the name of Jesus and all who believed on Him, 
is now to gaze into the opened heavens and see not alone 
Glory and the Person of Him whom he persecuted, but also 
to hear His voice. What infinite Grace! Stephen, the Saint 
of God, beheld an opened heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the next who sees heaven opened and beholds the Lord 
and hears His voice is the chief of sinners. 

What happened on the road to Damascus was unique. 
Saul's conversion is unlike any other conversion. Nor 
has such an event taken place since then. That it will be 
repeated on a larger scale in a future day is assured by the 
Word of Prophecy. The heavens will be opened once more. 
Out of the opened heavens there will again shine forth the 
Glory of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. In His 
Glory, He will appear the second time. And when He comes 
- in the clouds of heaven there will be still His blinded prople 
on earth, a remnant of them, and like Saul they will behold 
the glorious vision. Then will be fulfilled what is written in 
Zechariah xii:10: "They shall look upon me whom they 
have pierced and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth 
for His only Son." Saul must have seen the nailprints and 
the pierced side, as Thomas saw them, when the Lord ap- 
peared the second time. Of that second coming it is wiitten, 
"Behold He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see 
Him and they also which pierced Him" (Rev. i:7). This is 
future. Those who pierced Him, His own, will see Him in 
that day and that will mean a wonderful salvation for the 
whole nation, for all Israel living in that day. In John xix 
we read in a number of passages that things were fulfilled 
when our Lord was crucified, but when it comes to the Scrip- 



168 



ture, "they shall look on Him whom they pierced," the 
Holy Spirit avoids the word fulfilled and substitutes for it 
"another Scripture saith" (John xix:37). 

The conversion of Saul is therefore a great type of the 
national conversion of the people Israel. 

The vision itself which burst upon Saul on the road to 
Damascus is one of the greatest in the whole Bible. It has 
baffled unbelief. Infidels of all descriptions, French rational- 
ists like Renan, reformed rationalistic Jews, and the worst of 
all, the advocates of the destructive Bible Criticism, have 
tried to explain the occurrence in some natural way. 

Renan in his Les Apotres (the Apostles) says that it was 
an uneasy conscience with unstrung nerves, fatigue of the 
journey, eyes inflamed by the hot sun, a sudden stroke of 
fever, which produced the hallucination. And this nonsense 
is repeated to this day. Others of the critics have stated 
that it was a thunderstorm which overtook him, and that a 
flash of lightning blinded him. In that lightning flash he 
imagined that he saw Christ. This is preached by some of 
these critics, who occupy pulpits. Again, others have tried 
to explain his vision by some physical disease. Jews and 
others have declared that he suffered from Epilepsy, which 
the Greeks called "the holy disease." This disease, they say, 
put him into a state of ecstasy, which may have greatly 
impressed his Gentile hearers. In such an attack he imag- 
ined co have seen a vision and heard a voice. All these and 
other opinions are puerile inventions emanating from the 
Father of lies. The fact is, the conversion of Saul is one of 
the great miracles and evidences of Christianity. 

After we have learned the importance and significance of 
the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, as well as the typical and 
prophetic aspect of the event, we shall now examine the 
event in its details. 

The ninth chapter does not contain the full record of 
what happened on the road to Damascus. The Apostle 



169 



Paul himself relates twice his own experience in chapter 
xxii:5-16 and in chapter xxvi:12-18. He also mentions his 
conversion briefly in 1 Corinth. xv:8, Gal. i :15— 16 and 1 
Tim. i:12-13. The three accounts of Saul's conversion are 
not without meaning. The one before us in the ninth chap- 
ter is the briefest and is simply the historical account of the 
event as it had to be embodied in the Book of the Acts, as his- 
tory. The account in the twenty-second chapter was given by 
Paul in the Hebrew tongue; it is the longest statement and 
was addressed to the Jews. The account in the twenty-sixth 
chapter was given in presence of the Roman governor Festus 
and the Jewish king Agrippa, therefore addressed to both 
Jews and Gentiles. But are there not discrepancies and dis- 
agreements in these three accounts? Such has been the claim 
from the side of men who reject the inspiration of the Bible. 
There are differences, but no disagreements. These differ- 
ences in themselves are the evidences of inspiration. The 
differences, however, are simplv in the manner in which the 
facts of the event are presented. We shall point out all this 
when we come to these accounts. 

It was near Damascus, when suddenly there shone round 
about the great persecutor of the church of God a light out 
of heaven. Nothing is said in this record here of the time 
of the day when this happened. In the third account in 
this book, the Apostle mentions the part of the day when it 
took place. "At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light 
from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round 
about me and them which journeyed with me" (Acts xxvi:13). 
Ic was in the time of the day when the sun shone brightest. 
Its glaring rays fell upon the road upon which Saul and his 
companions were journeying on. Saul was pushing onward in 
his madness, eager to reach the city in which further de- 
monstrations of his hatred were to be given, when suddenly 
a far brighter light than the light of the mid-day sun shone 
round about him and his companions. The light fell 



170 



out of heaven and was the Glory of the Lord of Glory. 
On the field of Bethlehem the Glory of the Lord shone 
round about the shepherds, but here it is the shining 
forth of the Glory of Him who had died and had risen 
from the dead, the Glory of Him, who entered into hea- 
ven and sat down at the right hand of God. And Saul under 
that Glory-light, fell to the earth; it was too much for a 
human being to stand. He laid prostrate on the ground. 
Those who were with him likewise fell down, for Paul in his 
account says that they all fell to the earth (Chapter xxvi: 
14). _ 

This is one of the alleged discrepancies. While in his 
account Paul declares that the whole company fell down, 
the record here states that the men, who journeyed with 
him stood speechless (Verse 7). In our present chapter 
the companions of Paul are seen standing while Paul tells 
us later they fell down. This is claimed to be a disagree- 
ment. Even some careful expositors like Dean Alford have 
found a difficulty here. But why should there be any diffi- 
culty at all? Paul's narratives of what happened to him con- 
tain the complete account. He tells us that they were all 
fallen to the ground when this glory-light shone out of 
heaven. This fact is omitted in the historical account here. 
We see those who journeyed with Saul standing speechless, 
after the Lord had spoken to him. It does not say that 
they stood when the light shone upon them. That would 
have been impossible. If the band, which had gone after 
the Lord in the garden to take Him captive, fell backward 
when the Man of humiliation had uttered His majestic " I 
am " (John xviii:6), how much more must these have fallen 
to the ground, when the heavenly Glory burst upon them. 
The text here tells us that the companions of Paul were so 
amazed at what had happened that they had lost tem- 
porarily the power of speech They had fallen to the 
ground but now had arisen and stood speechless. 



171 



But Saul had heard a voice out of that bright light. The 
voice spoke in the Hebrew tongue. This we learn from 
Paul's address before Festus and Agrippa. The voice 
calls him by name. He is fully known to Him who speaks 
out of heaven. All along in all his work of evil, his perse- 
cutions and the hatred he exhibited against those who 
believed on Christ, that eye had seen him and followed 
him. He had kept silent. He did not interfere in the 
wicked work Saul had done; but now He kept silence no 
longer. But more than that, Saul beheld the Lord Him- 
self. In that great light which shone about him, in that 
opened heaven, he saw Him, who had spoken, the Man in 
Glory. The Lord Jesus Christ appeared unto him. The 
Son of God in the Glory of the Father was revealed unto 
Saul. Though the record here is silent about the actual 
vision, it is clearly seen from other Scriptures that such 
was the case. Ananias later addressed Saul and said, 
" Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee 
in the way" (ix:17). From another verse in our chap- 
ter (verse 27), we learn that Barnabas said " that he had 
seen the Lord in the way and that He had spoken to him." 
Then in Chapter xxvi:16, the Lord Himself spoke to Saul: 
" I have appeared unto thee." A more direct testimony is 
found from the Apostle in 1 Corin. xv., where, after men- 
tioning the different witnesses of the resurrection, Paul 
says, " and last of all He was seen of me also, as of one 
born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, 
that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I perse- 
cuted the church of God " (1 Corin. xv:8-9). He saw the 
Lord in all His resurrection Glory and this, besides the 
direct call, constituted him an Apostle, for he was now a 
fit witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. "Am I not 
an Apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ 
our Lord?" (1 Cor. ix:l.) Did he know the Lord in per- 
son when he walked on the earth? Saul was in Jerusalem 



172 




at that time; he must have seen Him there. 2 Cor. v:16 
seems to indicate this. 

And now that voice, which had spoken with so much 
tenderness on earth, the voice he had refused to hear, spoke 
to him from glory, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ME? 
And he said, Who art Thou Lord? And the Lord said, I 
am Jesus whom thou persecutest."* 

And what a meeting it was which thus took place on the 
road to Damascus! The Lord who had died for that na- 
tion (John xi:51), and he who was the culmination of all 
the hatred of the nation, who hated Him without a cause, 
were now face to face. His eyes gazed upon that figure in 
Glory, his ears heard the words which fell from His lips. 
The words which came out of heaven were not the words 
of a stern Judge. It was the voice of a gracious, loving 
Saviour and Lord, the same who had once called in the 
garden to fallen man, "Where art thou"? Saul, the per- 
secutor of the church of God, had deserved wrath. Instead 
of judgment and wrath, Grace, infinite and unfathomable 
Grace, meets him. That Grace, which he was the chosen 
instrument to proclaim from henceforth in all its unlimited 
riches, he must taste first of all. That Grace which flows 
from the risen and glorified Saviour is first of all mani- 
fested in his own case. The possibilities of Grace, the riches 
of Grace, are indeed fully demonstrated" in the great event 
on the Damascus road. Triumphantly he declared after- 
wards, " This is a faithful saying and worthy of all accepta- 
tion, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; 

The words which follow in the authorized version " It is hard for 
thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished 
said, Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?" must be omitted here. 
They do not belong into the historical account as given by Luke. 
They were inserted later from chapters xxii and xxvi, where they are 
in the right place. No Greek manuscript contains them. (See Alford 
Greek New Testament in loco.) 



173 



of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained 
mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all 
long suffering, for a pattern to them that should hereafter 
believe on Him to life everlasting " (1 Tim. i:15, 16). " Saul, 
Saul, why persecutest thou Me?"' The voice had spoken 
out of heaven. How could he answer that question? It 
was unanswerable. From the trembling lips of the young 
Pharisee there comes the question, " Who art Thou, Lord?" 
The person he beholds, shining out of heaven surrounded 
by the glory-light, which of old dwelt in the midst of Israel, 
can be none other but Jehovah. And so the prostrate 
Saul addresses Him as Lord. And the Lord answers him 
in His loving Grace, " I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." 
The full and awful truth now flashes upon the trembling 
questioner. The Jesus, who went about doing good, and 
healing all that were oppressed of the devil (Acts x:38), who 
was crucified, who was rejected by the nation, the Jesus, 
whom dying Stephen beheld, into whose hands he had 
committed his spirit, that Jesus, whom he hated and whose 
followers he had so cruelly persecuted, is Jehovah. The 
Man, who hung on a cross reckoned among the evil-doers, 
who died that shameful death, lives and is the Man in 
Glory at the right hand of God. Marvellous revelation as 
it burst upon the collapsed persecutor in the simple answer, 
" I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." 

What was he then with all his boasting law-keeping? 
Who was he, the Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the 
law, a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee? Nothing less 
than an enemy of God and the chief of sinners. In that 
Glory from above, in that voice, which spoke and declared 
Himself as Jesus the Lord, the blindness, wickedness and 
enmity of Israel and the flesh as well, were fully discovered, 

But if we were to enlarge, it would be necessary to cover 
all the blessed God-breathed teachings of the Gospel as 
contained in the Pauline Epistles. The Gospel he preached. 



174 



which he called " my Gospel," this Gospel of Grace and 
Glory, the Holy Spirit so blessedly teaches in the great doc- 
trinal Epistles penned through the Apostle Paul, is con- 
tained in a nutshell in the event on the road to Damascus. 
To the Galatians Paul wrote later in his wonderful defense 
of that Gospel, " But I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel, 
which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither 
received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revela- 
tion of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 12). That Gospel, which 
he received was first revealed in that Glory-flash out of 
heaven; it is " the Gospel of the Glory of the blessed God." 
Man has no part nor share in it, but it is all of God, all of 
Grace. 

But in the first chapter of Colossians Paul tells us that he 
is not only the minister of the'Gospel but that another min- 
istry was given to him, the ministry of the church, which is 
His body. The two, the Gospel of Grace and the truth con- 
cerning the church, the mystery hidden in former ages go 
together and are inseparably connected. God tells out in 
the two the completeness and riches of His grace in Christ 
Jesus. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, well termed " the 
rich Epistle," the Holy Spirit blends into a marvellous gem 
the two — Gospel and Church truth. And here the man in 
the dust of the highway, the chosen vessel, learns for the 
first time the great revelation he was to. make known. Lis- 
ten to him as he writes from the Roman prison: 

" For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for 
you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the 
grace of God which is given me to you-ward, how that by 
revelation he made known unto me the mystery . . . 
which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of 
men" (Ephes. iii:l-5). That mystery is the church as the 
body of Christ. Every believing sinner is a member of the 
body of Christ. Christ in Glory, the Lord, who spoke to 
Saul in the way, is the Head of that body, the church, 



175 



Christ is in each member of His body, His life is there; 
and every believer is in Christ. " Ye in Me and I in you." 
And this great hidden mystery too flashes forth in this 
wonderful event, for the first time. " Saul, Saul, why per- 
secutest thou Me" " I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." 
The poor, hated, despised Nazarenes, whom the mad, Jew- 
ish zealot Saul of Tarsus had driven out of Jerusalem, 
put into prison and delivered unto death, were one with the 
Lord in Glory. They were identified with Him and He with 
them. Their persecution meant His persecution, in their 
affliction He was afflicted. They were members of His 
body and that body was in existence. 

The Lord commanded Saul to arise and go into the city 
where his question " What wilt Thou have me to do?" would 
be answered. The men then had also arisen and had lost 
the power of speech " hearing a voice, but seeing no man." 
We remember years ago how a poor, blinded Jew attended 
our Gospel meetings and among his claims that the New 
Testament contradicted itself, he would cite the statement 
here about the companions of Saul and Paul's statement 
that " they heard not the voice of Him that spoke with me " 
(Acts xxii:9). He called this a disagreement. The far 
more blinded Higher Critics make the same assertion. But 
there is no disagreement. Luke in his brief account tells 
us that the men heard a voice. But Paul tells us that they 
heard not " the voice of Him that spake with me." They 
did not hear the conversation, they heard the sound of a 
voice but the voice itself was unintelligible to them. John 
xii:28-29 explains it perfectly. The Son of God heard the 
Father's voice. The people who stood by heard the sound 
waves and some declared that it was thunder, others that 
an angel had spoken. Only the Son heard what theFather 
had said. So here. The men heard the sound of the voice, 
but what was said they did not hear; Saul alone under- 
stood the words of the heavenly speaker. 



Then Saul arose. He is obedient at once. It is the first 
act of obedience he yields to Him whose bondservant he had 
become through His wonderful grace. But when his eyes 
were opened, he saw no man. The vision of the Lord and 
His Glory had blinded his eyes and his companions had to 
take him by the hand and lead him. What a change had 
taken place! The self-sufficient, boasting Pharisee, who had 
pressed on towards Damascus, had become as helpless as a 
child. He who led others was now obliged to be led. We 
wonder what became of the letters he carried from the 
high priest. Perhaps he flung them at once from his 
person. 

The blindness which had come upon him has also its 
spiritual significance. It indicates the result of the vision 
of Glory in his own life. He was blind to the things down 
here. It is said of an astronomer who had looked too long 
into the light of the sun that he became blind. However, 
it was not darkness, which enshrouded him; but the brilliant 
orb of the sun in the heavens ever dazzled before his eyes. 
Wherever he looked he saw the sun. If he awoke in the 
darkest night the fiery ball of the sun was the object before 
his eyes. And Paul after his glory experience had but one 
object, Christ in Glory and the Glory of Christ. He truly 
like the disciples on the mount of transfiguration " saw no 
man save Jesus only" (Matt. xvii:8)." The Gospel of 
Grace and Glory of the Son of God must blind our eyes 
to the things which are seen. 

Three days Saul was without sight, nor did he eat and 
drink. He was passing through a grave like Jonah. What 
must have been his feeling and his experience during these 
three days? Shut up in darkness; what soul exercise must 
have been his portion! But He was secure in the hands 
of Him, of whom He was soon to testify, " He loved Me and 
gave Himself for Me." 



177 



II. The call to Ananias. 

And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; 
and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, 
I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into 
the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas 
for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, and hath, 
seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his 
hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias 
answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil 
he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: and here he hath authority 
from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the 
Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto 
me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the chil- 
dren of Israel: for I will shew him how great things he must suffer 
for my name's sake. (Verses 10-16.) 

And now the Lord, who had in such grace met Saul on 
the road to Damsacus, goes before him to the city. An 
humble disciple lived there; he was a devout man according 
to the law, having a good report of all the Jews, who lived 
in that city (Acts xxii:12). This devout follower of the 
Lord Jesus Christ had a vision which concerned Saul. One 
has well said, " The Lord Jesus as master of the house must, 
so to speak, complete arrangements for adding Saul to His 
household." What a great change had been wrought! Per- 
haps some day, in the presence of the Lord, when all hidden 
things will be made manifest, we may find that Saul's hatred 
was aimed especially against Ananias, who must have been 
the leader of the assembly in Damascus. Saul had set out to 
bind Ananias and all that call on the name of the Lord, and 
put them into prison. But Ananias hears now that he is to 
go to Saul instead and seek him, who had come to seek and 
persecute them. It was the Lord who spoke to Ananias in 
the vision. The childlike and calm answer this disciple gave 
to the Lord is an evidence of the simplicity and reality of 
his prayer life. The Lord gave him the directions where to 
find him. He was to inquire in the house of Judas in the 



178 



street, which is called the Straight. But the Lord further- 
more told Ananias that Saul likewise had a vision. "Be- 
hold he prayeth" was the cheering message the Lord gave 
of him. It was the manifestation of the new life in Saul. 
In answer to the prayer of Saul, prayer, no doubt for light 
and deliverance, the Lord had given him the vision. He 
saw Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, that 
he might receive sight. "A pair of visions, which mutually 
correspond, as the visions of Ananias and Saul in this in- 
stance, removes all suspicion of treacherous phantasy." * 

That Ananias was chosen for this mission is very sig- 
nificant. The Samaritans, as we learned in Chapter viii, 
had to wait till Peter and John came from Jerusalem, before 
the Holy Spirit came upon them. One would expect that 
the Apostles were equally needed in the case of Saul of 
Tarsus. Peter, John nor any of the other Apostles, how- 
ever, are mentioned in connection with Saul's conversion, 
baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit. In their place an 
humble, unknown disciple is called by the Lord to act. And 
yet Saul was called an Apostle and chosen to be the great- 
est of the Apostles. Ritualistic Christendom, with its 
claims of apostolic succession and authority, finds this hard 
to explain. Paul's apostleship was not of men, neither by 
man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised 
Him from the dead (Gal. i:l). Jerusalem and the Apostles 
there had nothing whatever to do with his case. One who 
was not an Apostle at all, whose name is not mentioned 
again in the Bible, was the chosen instrument to lay his 
hands on Saul of Tarsus. Here then we have the first 
indication of what the apostleship of Paul was to be. It 
was three years after all this had transpired that he went 
up to Jerusalem to see Peter; and then it was not for any 
confirmation of his apostleship. 



t *Bengel Gnomen of N. T. 



179 



Ananias answered the Lord. The evil reputation of Saul 
had preceded him to Damascus. Perhaps some of the suf- 
fering believers, who had been forced to leave Jerusalem, 
found a refuge in Damascus. And Ananias in a simple 
and natural way tells the Lord all about it. The task laid 
upon him seems too great and he acquaints the Lord with 
what he had heard about this man. This, has been declared, 
was a foolish thing. Of course, the Lord knew all about 
Saul; he knew far better the evil work he had accomplished 
than Ananias could ever know. Furthermore the Lord 
had told Ananias that Saul was praying; why then should 
he protest against the call and speak thus to one who is 
omniscient? While unbelief had its share in it and the 
weakness of the flesh is seen, it is likewise something which 
brings cheer to our hearts. The Lord in His graciousness 
does not rebuke Ananias for his unbelieving reply. He 
bears with the weakness of His servant and condescends to 
make known unto him the future destiny of the praying 
Saul. And we, too, fail so much in our prayers, doubting 
and fearing, when we are addressing Him, who is the om- 
nipotent and omniscient Lord, so reluctant to follow un- 
questioning His gracious directions. Have we not found 
Him as loving and condescending as Ananias did? 

And the Lord takes His servant into His own confidence; 
He tells him about Saul and what is in store for him. He 
is a chosen vessel and the Name, which is above every 
other name, is to be made known by him to Gentiles, Kings 
and the children of Israel. It is significant that the children 
of Israel are mentioned last, while the Gentiles are in the 
foreground. While Paul the Apostle preached to the Jews 
and went into their synagogues, his mission was to the 
Gentiles as the Apostle of the Gentiles. His sufferings for 
His Name's sake are likewise announced by the Lord. And 
here we must not forget that the same Lord, who knew 
all about Saul and his life as it was to be, is our Lord, too, 



180 



and knows us, plans for us, as He knew him and did with 
him, who delighted to call himself, " the chief of sinners." 
What comfort we should take from this fact! 

III. Saul filled with the Spirit, baptized and preaching 
Jesus, that He is the Son of God. 

And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and 
putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, 
that appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, 
that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy 
Spirit. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been 
scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. 
And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was 
Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And 
straightway he preached Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the 
Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is 
not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in 
Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring 
them bound unto the chief priests? But Saul increased the more 
in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, 
proving that this is very Christ. (Verses 17-22.) 

The Lord had said to Ananias " go thy way." Ananias 
went his way. He followed the Lord obediently. Directed 
by Him, he soon found the stricken Saul in the place, which 
the vision had revealed to him. The two, Saul of Tarsus 
and Ananias are now face to face. Saul does not see his 
visitor, for he is still blind, but he was -patiently waiting 
for him to come, for the Lord had told him all about his 
coming and even revealed his name. And Ananias saw 
before himself the former persecutor of the Church of God 
(Gal. i : 13) in a helpless condition. They do not need to 
be introduced to each other. The Lord had done this. 
Ananias addresses Saul and the way he does it is extremely 
precious. " Brother Saul," he said as he put his hands on 
him, " the Lord Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way 
as thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive 
thy sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." He addressed 



181 



him as brother. The work had been accomplished and the 
young Pharisee, who had seen the Lord was indeed now 
" a brother beloved. " The Grace of God is strikingly illus- 
trated in this. There was no confession to Ananias, no 
rebuke nor accusation, nothing from the side of Saul of 
Tarsus; Grace had saved him and made of him a brother 
in the Lord. And now his blindness is removed under the 
laying on of hands; he received his sight. When we reach 
Chapter xxii, Paul's account of this scene, we shall find 
additional information of what transpired then. Here the 
record is brief. The laying on of the hands of this disciple* 
of the Lord most likely was the moment when not only 
Saul's eyes were opened, but when he was also filled with 
the Holy Spirit. Ananias had delivered the message to 
him that he should be filled with the Holy Spirit and though 
it is not directly stated here that this filling took place at 
once in connection with the opening of his eyes, it is per- 
fectly right to assume that such was the case. We dis- 
cover a variety of modes of the filling with the Spirit. 
On Pentecost no hands were laid on anyone, but the state- 
ment there made was, Repent, be baptized and ye shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Samaritans had 
been baptized, but for a special reason (stated in our ex- 
position) they had to wait till Peter and John came from 
Jerusalem and laid their hands upon them. Cornelius and 
his household were not baptized, nor had hands been laid 
upon them, when the Holy Spirit fell upon them. The 
disciples at Ephesus (Acts xix) were baptized and only 
after Paul laid his hands upon them came the Holy Spirit 
upon them. Paul must have received the Spirit first, then 

*The learned Dr. Lightfoot in his Horae Hebraicae puts the following 
questions without answering them. "Could Ananias therefore confer 
the Holy Spirit? This seemed the peculiar prerogative of the Apostles; 
could therefore a private disciple do this to an Apostle? By the im- 
position of his hands could he impart the gift of tongues and prophecy?" 



182 



he arose and was baptized. Why these different modes? 
If there had been uniformity in every case it would have 
resulted in the belief that in order to receive the Holy Spirit, 
the same uniform method must be followed. This was 
to be avoided. It must be remembered that all these cases 
in Acts were unique, falling into the transition stage. The 
Epistles, however, teach that the Holy Spirit is received 
by all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; " in whom 
also believing ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of prom- 
ise " (Eph. i:13) is the order now. 

Saul after this was certain days with the disciples which 
were at Damascus. Who can describe the happy times in the 
Lord they must have had! What hymns of praise they 
must have sung to the Lord for the riches of His Grace, 
so wonderfully manifested in the salvation of Saul! " And 
straightway he preached Jesus in the synagogues, that He 
is the Son of God." The word " straightway 99 teaches us 
something. It is the word which occurs some thirty-five 
times in the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel record, which 
shows Christ as the perfect servant. The word " straight- 
way " manifests the Lord's prompt and untiring service, 
which He rendered to His Father. And Saul begins His 
witness for the Lord with a " straightway." Of all the 
Apostles he was the most prompt in his service, laboring 
more than all the others. The glorious vision on the Da- 
mascus road, the sight of the Man in Glory and his oneness 
with Him, as made known to him by revelation, produced 
this marvellous service in the life of the converted persecutor 
of the Church. We, too, if we have the Lord ever before our 
hearts may have our " straightway " service. 

And what a sensation was produced as he went from 
synagogue to synagogue and delivered his message! Per- 
haps as he entered the synagogues his brethren welcomed 
him most heartily. Had he not done, according to their 
view, such a good work in Jerusalem? They hated that 



183 



Name, too, and were glad that Saul had come to bind the 
believers in Christ and bring them to Jerusalem to be dealt 
with by the chief priests of the nation. But how great 
must have been their consternation when the celebrated 
Pharisee and persecutor opened his lips and preached the 
very name they despised and hated. As he continued in this 
work in the synagogues his strength increased. The testi- 
mony he gave established him and was a blessing to his own 
soul. The Jews dwelling in Damascus, and their numbers 
were very large, were confounded. His preaching was ex- 
clusively concerning the Lord Jesus, who had been crucified; 
and he proved that this is the very Christ. The question 
of the Messiah promised to Israel was then agitating the 
hearts and minds of all Jews, as it does still among those 
Jews, who still believe in the Law and the Prophets. And 
what a preacher Saul must have been! He had a remark- 
able knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. The 
Holy Spirit filling him illuminated the many Messianic 
prophecies and in the power of the Spirit these were ap- 
plied as being fulfilled in Him, whose name they had re- 
fused to accept. He began his great witness bearing in 
the Synagogues in Damascus. Later we read of the method 
he used, so effectually. " He reasoned with them out 
of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must 
needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and 
that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ"* (Acts 
xvii:2-3). And to this arguing from Scripture came the 
powerful argument of his own experience. He had seen 
the Lord. The one who hung on the cross, whose tomb 
was found empty on the third day, who had been seen by 
His disciples after His passion, whom they declared to be 



*This is still the right way in arguing with the Jews. First, showing 
from the Scriptures the predictions concerning Christ. Secondly, 
showing their fulfilment in the person of our Lord. 



184 



risen from the dead, who had left the earth and ascended 
into heaven, whose resurrection had been fully proven by 
the Coming of the Holy Spirit and by many signs and 
miracles, Saul had seen and heard His voice. Therefore he 
preached Jesus that He is the Son of God. Up to this time 
this name of the risen Lord had not been preached. Our 
previous exposition showed that the words of Peter in 
chapter iii in which he spoke of the Lord Jesus as Son, were 
mistranslated and that viii :37, where the Son of God is 
mentioned must be omitted. It would have been very 
natural for Peter to refer to his former confession of Christ 
at Caesarea Philippi, where he said, " Thou art the Christ, 
the Son of the living God;" but it was not for Peter to 
preach Jesus thus. Saul had seen the rejected One in 
Glory and this demonstrates Him the Son of God by resur- 
rection from the dead, the great and blessed foundation 
truth of the Gospel. 

IV. Saul persecuted and back in Jerusalem. 

And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel 
to kill him: But their laying await was known of Saul. And 
they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the dis- 
ciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. 
And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join him- 
self to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed 
not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought 
him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the 
Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he 
had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he 
was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he 
spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against 
the Grecians: but they went about to slay him. Which when the 
brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him 
forth to Tarsus. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea 
and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the 
fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were 
multiplied. (Verses 23-30.) 

The Holy Spirit has not given us a record of the " many 



185 



days" mentioned in the 23d verse. During these many days 
he made a journey to Arabia. The first chapter in Gala- 
tians tells us of this fact. "Neither went I up to Jerusalem 
to them which were Apostles before me, but I went into 
Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus" (Gal. i:17). 
This is the only time his journey into Arabia is mentioned 
in the Bible. How long he spent there and what he did 
there is unrevealed. It is incorrect to say he spent three 
years in Arabia; in Galatians the statement is made that 
three years after his return to Damascus he went to Jeru- 
salem. This does not mean that he was for three years in 
Arabia. Most likely as other great men of God went to 
the desert, Saul likewise sought Arabia for quietness, medi- 
tation and prayer. His reappearing in Damascus was the 
signal for an outbreak against him. He had confounded the 
Jews before he went into Arabia, and now with still greater 
power he was ready to continue his God-given message. The 
Jews then took counsel to kill him. It is the first act of 
persecution and suffering recorded in this wonderful life of 
suffering for Christ's sake. He is starting with what the 
Lord had said, "for I will show him how great things he 
must suffer for my Name's sake" (verse 16). But the 
plot was discovered by Saul. He knew himself in the hands 
of the Lord. That glorious Jehovah, whom He had seen, 
was His shield and He guarded His servant, as He still 
keeps His servants by His power. The plot was the work 
of Satan, who had become aroused on account of the great 
victory the Lord had achieved in translating the persecutor 
from the power of darkness into His own kingdom (Col. i). 
He could not wrest him from Christ, so he would silence 
his testimony here; but this Satan could not do. 

The Jews had the gates watched; but by night he was let 
down by the wall in a basket. Paul refers to this later. 
"In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the 
city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to appre- 



186 

hend me. And through a window in a basket was I let down 
by the wall, and escaped his hands" (2 Cor. xi:32-33). 
According to his statement in the chapter which relates his 
sufferings, this experience of having to leave Damascus as a 
fugitive was a very humiliating one. What a contrast with 
the anticipated entrance into Damascus, when he had left 
Jerusalem to persecute the church and his flight from Da- 
mascus to go to Jerusalem! This first visit to Jerusalem 
took place three years after his conversion. Why did he 
not return at once? Flesh and blood indeed must have 
suggested this to him. He was a courageous man. Nothing 
would have pleased him better than to return at once to the 
city he loved so well and preach the Name he once despised. 
But he did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did he go up 
to Jerusalem to them which were Apostles before him (Gal. 
i: 16-1 7). It had to be so to prove that he had his apostle- 
ship apart from Jerusalem. This is the reason why this 
historical account is embodied in the first chapter of the 
Epistle to the Galatians. In his defence of the Gospel con- 
tained in that epistle he shows first that he is an Apostle 
and how he became an Apostle. The twelve in Jerusalem 
had nothing to do with it. But when he arrived there he 
was treated with suspicion. Evidently the testimony he had 
given so faithfully in Damascus was not fully known in the 
church in Jerusalem. Could it be possible that this young 
Pharisee, who but three years ago had scattered the believers 
in the city, put them into prison and had them maltreated 
in every way and killed, was now truly a believer? This 
distrust surely was a sign of weakness in the disciples. 
Instead of believing the Grace of God, which had wrought 
so mightily in Saul, and rejoicing that he which persecuted 
them in times past, now preached the faith he once de- 
stroyed, they were afraid of him. This must have humbled 
him much. But He who had become the recipient of such 
Grace and delighted to call himself the chief of sinners, was 



187 



gracious, and we hear no complaint from his side on ac- 
count of the distrust of the disciples. We meet again Bar- 
nabas; it is the same of whom we read in the closing verses 
of chapter iv. Barnabas, whose name means " son of con- 
solation," was all this to Saul. He took him and introduced him 
to the Apostles, and told out the story of Grace more fully. 

But we must again examine the historical record contained 
in the Apostle's own words in Galatians i. There we learn 
the details of this visit. He did not see all the Apostles, 
but only Peter and James, the Lord's brother. The other 
Apostles he did not see. This detailed statement is made to 
show that no council of the Apostles was called before which 
(according to ecclesiastical rules in our day) Saul had to 
appear to receive the sanction of the Apostles upon his own 
Apostleship, a kind of ordination. He did not need this; 
the Lord had called and ordained him. He was an Apostle, 
not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ. 

He abode with Peter, was Peter's guest. He had come 
especially to get better acquainted with Peter. Perhaps he 
wanted Peter to tell him about the Lord, the blessed words 
he had heard from Him, the miracles He had done. The • 
Gospel records were then not in existence. What a happy 
time they must have had together! 

He abode with Peter fifteen days. His time in Jerusalem 
was well used. He spoke boldly in the name of the Lord 
Jesus. He also disputed with the Hellenist Jews. He did 
the same work which Stephen was occupied with when he 
was ushered before the council. For all we know it was 
the same synagogue which he sought out, the man who hailed 
from Tarsus in Cilicia. And if, as we showed in our ex- 
position of the sixth chapter, Saul was one of those who 
disputed with Stephen, what a sensation it must have made 
in the synagogue, when this same Saul arose to perpetuate 
the mighty work Stephen had left to enter into the Lord's 
own presence ! But Stephen's fate threatened Saul. " They 



188 



went about to slay him." The brethren knew of it and 
brought him to Caesarea and sent him forth to Tarsus, his 
own native city. The reason why Saul readily consented 
to this is learned from chapter xxii: 17-21. 

And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, 
even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; And saw 
him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of 
Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. 
And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every 
synagogue them that believed on thee: And when the blood of 
thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and con- 
senting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew 
him. And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence 
unto the Gentiles. 

He received then in that trance-message his commission. 
Not Jerusalem and Judea was to be the scene of his activ- 
ity, but the territory outside of the land; not the Jews' 
Apostle he was to be, but the Apostle to the Gentiles. "De- 
part, for I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles." When 
later Paul in self-will stepped upon the territory the Lord 
had told him to leave, he got into great difficulty and became 
a prisoner. As a result of Saul's conversion, the 31st verse 
says, "the churches had rest." The word "churches," 
however, must be changed into "church." The translation 
of church in the plural is founded upon later manuscripts. 
There were many local churches or assemblies in Judea, but 
it was but one church, as there is but one church to-day. 
The church then had rest. The believers walked in the fear 
of the Lord and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Increase 
marked this happy condition. 

V. Further Acts of Peter. 

And it came to pass, as Peter passed "throughout all quarters, he 
came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. And there 
he found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed 



189 



eight years, and was sick of the palsy. And Peter said unto him, 
Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. 
And he arose immediately. And all that dwelt at Lydda and 
Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord. 

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which 
by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good 
works and almsdeeds which she did. And it came to pass in those 
days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, 
they laid her in an upper chamber. And forasmuch as Lydda was 
nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they 
sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to 
come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When 
he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all 
the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and 
garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. But 
Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turn- 
ing him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her 
eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his 
hand, and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and 
widows, he presented her alive. And it was known throughout 
all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord. And it came to pass, 
that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner. 
(Verses 32-43.) 

The ninth chapter closes with further acts of the Apostle 
Peter. It seems Peter made a kind of visitation, going 
from place to place. Two miracles happened in this con- 
nection. The healing of Aeneas and the raising up of 
Tabitha, who had died. The significant fact in connection 
with one of these miracles is that it was an answer to prayer. 
The one was healing and restoration, the other resurrection 
from the dead. Both miracles are of deep symbolical mean- 
ing. The Gospel was about to go forth to the Gentiles. 
Peter was to use again the keys of the kingdom of heaven 
in preaching to the household of Cornelius. Before this takes 
place the two miracles happened. They are significant 
in the place we find them, upon the threshold of the great 
event, the Gentiles to hear the Gospel. But why are they 
significant? 



190 



A commentator on these miracles says: "The record 
of these two miracles at this point makes us fancy that 
Luke saw in them a double sign of the great event to which 
they were the preface, viz., the gift of the Gentiles of re- 
pentance unto life (x:18). For they are complimentary: 
1. The healing of Aeneas denotes the restoration of activity; 
and in the parallel sign of the Lord, the healing of the palsied 
man at Capernaum, this is associated with the forgiveness 
of sins. 2. The raising of Dorcas denotes the gift of life; 
and it shows the need of it for the pious such as Dorcas, 
as for the innocent like Jairus' daughter, whom the Lord 
raised. In Aeneas then we may see symbolized the healing 
of those Gentiles who are sick with sin; in Dorcas the giving 
of life to those Gentiles who, though full of good works, "are 
yet aliens from the life of God because of the ignorance that 
is in them" (Eph. iv:18). 

However, the far better application of these two miracles 
is to Israel. Aeneas, which means " praise," in his palsied 
condition like the impotent man in the live porches in John 
v. and the lame man in Acts iii. at the beautiful gate, is a 
type of Israel, Aeneas' helpless condition is the condition of 
that people. And as the lame man at the beautiful gate 
arose in the name of Jesus Christ, so Aeneas is healed and 
so Israel will be healed some day. His own people, who 
are far from being a Praise in the earth, will some day be 
healed of their paralysis and become the miracle of the 
Lord's grace and mercy. And as with the case of Lydda 
and Saron, the inhabitants of these places who saw him, 
turned unto the Lord, so the Gentiles will receive their 
full blessing and turn unto the Lord, when Israel is healed. 

Without following the interesting account of Dorcas in 
its details, we desire to say she too represents Israel, and 
Dorcas' resurrection is a prophetic type of Israel's coming 
resurrection. 

The good works of Tabitha, or as she was also called, 



191 



Dofcas, her alms deeds and the blessing she Was to others, 
remind us of Israel's calling to bless all nations. But 
she died and could no longer do the alms deeds. So Israel 
is dead spiritually and nationally. Peter came from Lydda 
to Joppa sent for by the disciples. He kneeled down and 
prayed, and when he turned to the body he addressed the 
corpse, "Tabitha, arise." She then opened her eyes and 
sat up. Peter gave her his hand and lifted her up and pre- 
sented her alive in the presence of the saints and widows. 
Many believed on account of this miracle. Even so Israel 
will some day be raised from the dead and become the source 
of great blessing. As Peter prayed: so may we long and 
pray for the restoration of Israel. Some day Israel will 
rise and receive the life of which that nation is now desti- 
tute. "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem" (Psa. cxxii:6). 
"And give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make 
Jerusalem a praise in the earth" (Isaiah lxii:7). How 
little of this prayer for Israel and Jerusalem is known among 
God's people! and all on account of the ignorance prevailing 
among Christians concerning the great destiny of the people 
who are still beloved for the Father's sake. 

Peter tarried in Joppa in the house of Simon the tanner. 
Was he breaking with his Jewish law and customs? Tan- 
ning made necessary the handling of skins taken from 
unclean animals. It was, therefore, as a trade considered 
unclean by the Jews. 

But for the great work Peter had to do in opening the 
door of the Kingdom to the Gentiles he had to be prepared 
in a special way. 



192 



CHAPTER X. 

In Ephesians ii:ll-18, we read the blessed words concern- 
ing the Grace of God to the Gentiles. 

"Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gen- 
tiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that 
which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from 
the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the cov- 
enants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the 
world: But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar 
off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our 
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the 
middle wall of partition between us. Having abolished in 
His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments con- 
tained in ordinances, for to make in Himself of twain one new 
man, so making peace; For through Him we both have access 
by one Spirit unto the Father." 

Up to this time in the Book of Acts we have seen nothing 
of this gracious purpose, the blessed result of the finished 
work of Christ on the cross. Jerusalem heard the Gospel 
first. Once more the good news of the Kingdom was preached 
with a full offer of forgiveness to the Jews. God was willing 
to blot out their transgressions and to make good all He had 
promised to the nation. Many signs and miracles had been 
done in Jerusalem in demonstration of the resurrection from 
the dead of the Prince of Life, whom they had crucified. 
We have seen how the seventh chapter in this book marks 
the close of that special offer to Jerusalem. Immediately 
after the death of Stephen, the Gospel was carried into Judea 
and Samaria. In Samaria a people heard and accepted the 
glad tidings. They were a mixed race and practiced circum- 
cision and obeyed parts of the law, In the ninth chapter the 



19J 



Conversion of Paul is recorded and the Lord makes known that 
the persecutor of the church is to be the chosen vessel to 
bear His name before the Gentiles. Paul, however, was not 
chosen to open first the door to the Gentiles as such, but 
Peter, the Apostle of the circumcision. A new work is 
given him to do, which was indeed a strange work for a 
Jew. He was to go to the Gentiles, whom the Jews con- 
sidered unclean. It was unlawful for a Jew to join himself 
to any Gentile; an insurmountable barrier divided them. 
As we read in the words quoted from the Epistle to the 
Ephesians, Gentiles were "aliens from the commonwealth 
of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise." 
For this reason the Jews considered the Gentiles as unclean, 
common, spoke of them as dogs, and had no intercourse 
with them. It is of interest to notice that Peter tarried in 
Joppa; from this old city he is to be sent forth to preach 
the Gospel to Cornelius and his household. Centuries ago 
another Jew had come to Joppa with a solemn message from 
his God, which he was commissioned to bear far hence to 
the Gentiles. Jonah, the prophet, took a ship from Joppa 
and refused obedience to the divine call. 

But here is one who is obedient to the heavenly vision 
and who is to bring a higher message to the Gentiles, the good 
news of a free and full salvation. That Peter, the Apostle 
of the circumcision, was chosen for this great errand, was an 
important hint that the middle wall of partition had been 
broken down and that believing Jews and Gentiles were to 
form one new man. Yet with the vision he had which 
opened the way for Peter to go to the Gentiles; and the great 
results he had witnessed when Cornelius and his household 
believed, and the Holy Spirit fell upon them, the Apostle 
Peter could later in Antioch put up the same wall of partition 
which he knew was broken down. "For before that certain 
came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when 
they were come (Jews from Jerusalem), he withdrew and 



194 



Separated himself, fearing them, which were of the circum- 
cision" (Gal. ii: 12). He then built again the things he had 
destroyed. 

The events of the tenth chapter are divinely pre-arranged ; 
and both Cornelius and those with him, who were to hear the 
Gospel, and Peter the messenger, are prepared for it. Peter 
is divinely prepared and instructed to go, and Cornelius is 
prepared to send and to hear. 

We divide the chapter into four parts. 

I. Cornelius of Caesarea and his Preparation (Verses 1-8). 

II. The trance-vision of Peter in Preparation for his Mis- 
sion (Verses 9-16). 

III. Peter with Cornelius at Caesarea (Verses 17-33). 

IV. Peter Preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles (Verses 
34-43). 

V. The interrupted Message (Verses 44-48). 

I. Cornelius of Caesarea and his Preparation to hear 
the Gospel. 

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centur- 
ion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that 
feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, 
and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently, about the 
ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him, and saying 
unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, 
and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto, him, Thy prayers 
and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now 
send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. 
He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the seaside: 
he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. And when the angel 
which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his 
household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on 
him continually; and when he had declared all these things unto 
them, he sent them to Joppa. (Verses 1-8.) 



195 



The city in which Cornelius dwelt is mentioned first, and 
it will not be out of place to give some information about 
that ancient city. It must not be confounded with another 
Caesarea, of which we read in the Gospel, Caesarea Philippi. 
The Caesarea here was situated between Joppa and Dora. 
Augustus, the Emperor, gave this city to Herod; he made a 
most beautiful city out of it, spending immense sums of 
money. It was a Gentile city, though many Jews live there 
also. Cornelius was a centurion, who was at the head of a 
band, which was known by the name of "the Italian." A 
legion in the Roman army had 6,000 men. Each legion was 
divided into 10 cohorts of 600 each, and a cohort was divided 
into six centuries, that is, a hundred men in each century. 
Cornelius was a centurion, he had charge of one of these 
subdivisions of a cohort. Of another centurion we read in 
the Gospels. He was in character much like Cornelius, for 
it is said of him "he loveth our nation and hath built us a 
synagogue" (Luke vii: 5). It is striking that two centurions, 
soldiers of rank, should be so prominently mentioned in con- 
nection with the Gospel. The Holy Spirit had done a gra- 
cious work in both of these Gentile soldiers. Cornelius 
must have been a man of authority. His name indicates this, 
for he belonged to the house to which also belonged the 
Scipios and Sulla. He was well known to the whole Jewish 
nation (verse 22); he also had a large circle of friends in 
Caesarea. But he had more than a good report. He was a 
devout man, one that feared God with all his house, and 
who showed his piety by almsgiving and by prayer. "He 
prayed to God alway." He belonged to that class of Gentiles 
who, illumined by the Holy Spirit, had turned to God from 
idols, to serve the true and the living God. He was godly and 
a converted man before Peter ever came to him and preached 
the Gospel in his house. It is wrong, therefore, to speak of 
the event described in this chapter as the conversion of Cor- 
nelius. Nor was he a proselyte who had become eircum> 



196 



cised and accepted Judaism. Of salvation through the Lord 
Jesus Christ for himself and the blessed assurance of that 
salvation he knew nothing. It was at the ninth hour when 
Cornelius had a divine visitation. He was praying (verse 30) 
when a man stood before him in bright clothing. It seems 
Cornelius observed the Jewish hours of prayer; the ninth 
hour was 3 P.M., the time of the evening oblation. The 
appearing of the angel filled Cornelius with fear. The angel 
brought him the assurance thai God had heard his prayers 
and that his good works were pleasing to God. They 
sprung from faith. God thus owned him. Sometimes people 
ask if Cornelius had died before Peter had had a chance to 
preach the Gospel to him, would he have perished? Certainly 
not. 

The angel also gave him the directions for sending to Peter, 
and where Peter was to be found, with whom he lodged and 
where his lodging house was located. Peter was to tell him 
what he ought to do. From this we may gather that his 
prayer must have been to God for light and guidance. How 
blessed and full of comfort all this is! The Lord observed 
this devout centurion, He heard his prayers. His eye was 
upon Peter likewise and He knew his movements. And this 
is still the case. His loving, watching eye is upon all who are 
His. He still directs and guides those who depend on Him. 
What honor to serve such a Lord! Yet "how little our poor, 
failing hearts enter into all this. How often we doubt and 
fear when faith should rejoice and praise. 

Cornelius called at once two of his household servants 
and a devout soldier, and after he had acquainted them 
with the divine message and direction he had received, he 
sent them to Joppa, and they in due time reached their 
destination. While they were inquiring for Simon the tanner's 
bouse at the seaside, the chosen messenger had his vision. 



197 



II. The trance-vision of Peter in preparation for his mis- 
sion. 

On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh 
unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about 
the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have 
eaten; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and saw 
heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had 
been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the 
earth: Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the 
earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 
And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill, and eat. But 
Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is 
common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the 
second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 
This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into 
heaven. (Verses 9-16.) 

The messenger needed a preparation as well as Cornelius. 
As a Jew, though filled with the Spirit, he needed a special 
revelation to send him forth to the Gentiles. On the day of 
Pentecost he had declared : " For the promise is unto you 
and to your children, and to all that are afar of, as many as 
the Lord our God shall call." Those "afar off" are the 
Gentiles. Peter then did not realize the far-reaching mean- 
ing of this utterance. And when he heard from the Lord's 
own lips the great commission to preach the Gospel to every 
creature, he little understood that it meant the Gentiles. 
Had some one demanded suddenly of Peter before this 
event occurred, that he should go and associate with Gentiles, 
enter their houses and speak to them concerning Christ, he 
would have drawn back in astonishment, if not in horror. 
But now the hour is come when it is to be known that indeed 
the middle wall of partition is broken down. Peter had 
tarried many days in Joppa. Nothing is said of further 
service he rendered in that city. He may have been waiting 
on the Lord for guidance. The messengers of Cornelius 
were nearing Joppa when Peter went up upon the housetop 
to pray, about the sixth hour. He still maintained Jewish 



198 



forms. He had not yet broken his fast and while on the 
flat roof he fell into a trance. The vision he saw, coming 
out of the opened heaven, was a vessel like a great sheet. 
The four corners were together and thus the sheet was 
let down upon the earth. The sheet contained clean and 
unclean animals. 

The voice from heaven demanded that Peter should kill 
and eat. And he who rebuked his Lord while on earth, 
there at Caesarea Philippi, when he said, after the Lord 
announced His coming passion, "Be it far from Thee" (Matt. 
xvi:22), does so here again on the housetop of Caesarea. 
He said, "Not so, Lord." He protests that he had never 
eaten anything common or unclean. The voice came again 
the second time, telling him, "What God hath cleansed, 
make not thou common." Thrice the same thing was done, 
and then straightway the vessel was received up into heaven. 
It returned to the place from which it had been lowered. 

And what is the meaning? The vessel is the type of the 
church. The four corners represent the four corners of the 
earth. The clean animals it contained, the Jews ; the unclean, 
the Gentiles. But all in that vessel are cleansed. The 
Grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed those who 
are in Christ. "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but 
ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the 
Spirit of our God" (2 Cor. vi: 11). Jew and Gentile believ- 
ing, redeemed by blood, saved by Grace, washed and sancti- 
fied, are put into one body. What the great Apostle to 
the Gentiles wrote to the Ephesians is here made known in 
a vision. 

"The Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body 
and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel" (Eph. 
iii:6.) 

The vessel came down from heaven and disappeared 
there. This reveals the heavenly origin and the heavenly 
destiny of the church, The church is a heavenly revelation, 



199 



and, as the vessel disappeared in heaven, so will the church 
some day be taken up into heaven to enter upon her heav- 
enly destination. Such are the lessons which this vision 
clearly teaches. 

III. Peter with Cornelius at Caesarea. 

Now, while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he 
had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from 
Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before 
the gate, and called, and asked whether Simon, which was sur- 
named Peter, were lodged there. While Peter thought on the 
vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. Arise 
therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing; 
for I have sent them. (Verses 17-20.) 

Peter was in doubt about the vision. What did it mean? 
Did it mean that all distinction between clean and unclean 
animals was to be abolished and that the great dietary 
instructions divinely given through Moses were to be aban- 
doned? Perhaps the words of the Lord came back to him, 
when He had said, "Do ye not perceive that whatsoever 
thing from without entereth into the man it cannot defile 
him." He was deeply exercised about the vision to know its 
deeper meaning. But the Lord Himself had the interpreta- 
tion of his vision ready for Peter. Just at that moment the 
messengers of Cornelius, who had asked their way to Simon's 
house at the seaside, had arrived at the gate. God was ar- 
ranging everything, even in the smaller details. His purpose 
and plan could not fail, nor can it ever fail. Nothing could 
hinder that which was to be accomplished. And so it is 
still. We need to fear no failure, nor do we need to worry, 
if we are in His plan. And when these men were inquiring 
for Simon, surnamed Peter, whether he lodged there, Peter 
was still in deep thought on the vision. He did not hear 
the calling of the men at the gate. But another One spoke 
to Jiim. "The Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek 



200 



thee. Arise, therefore, and get thee down and go with them 
nothing doubting, for I have sent them." The Holy Spirit 
now begins His directions. The words reveal the truth of the 
personality of the Holy Spirit in a very striking way. "I 
have sent them" is what the Holy Spirit declares. And He 
who sent the three men to summon Peter to Caesarea, also 
commanded Peter to arise and to go with them without any 
hesitation. 

Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him 
from Cornelius, and said, Behold, I am he whom you seek: what is 
the cause wherefore ye are come? And they said, Cornelius the 
centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report 
among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an 
holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of 
thee. Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the mor- 
row Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa 
accompanied them. (Verses 21-23.) 

How great must have been Peter's astonishment, when 
he faced suddenly the three Gentiles at the gate. But 
could he doubt after such a vision? Was not the presence of 
these three men, uncircumcised, unclean Gentiles, an expla- 
nation of the vision? The Holy Spirit furthermore had told 
him that they were sent by Himself and that he was to go 
with them. And the men now told him what had happened 
to Cornelius, the devout centurion, and that an angel of 
God had directed him to Peter. The full light must 
have flashed upon the Apostle of the circumcision. He 
called them in and lodged them. This was certainly break- 
ing away from Jewish customs. On the next morning we 
see a company leaving Joppa. Peter was not like Jonah, 
who fled from Joppa, but he leaves in obedience to the divine 
call, accompanied by certain brethren and the three mes- 
sengers of Cornelius. 

And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius 
waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near 



201 



friends. And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell 
down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, 
saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man. And as he talked with 
him, he went in, and found many that were come together. And 
he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a 
man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another 
nation; but God hath showed me that I should not call any man 
common or unclean. Therefore came I unto you without gainsay- 
ing, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye 
have sent for me? And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fast- 
ing until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, 
and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, 
Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remem- 
brance in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither 
Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one 
Simon a tanner by the seaside: who, when he cometh, shall speak 
unto thee. Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast 
well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here 
present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of 
God. (Verses 24-33.) 

While the company was journeying on towards the city, 
Cornelius, who had called together his kinsmen and near 
friends, was waiting for the heaven-sent messenger. With 
eager anticipation, longing for the blessed truth he was to 
hear, he waited for Peter's arrival. And then he came. 
No sooner did Cornelius see Peter than he fell down at his 
feet and worshipped. This happened outside of Cornelius' 
house, perhaps at a distance from it. The first act he did was 
to fall at the Apostle's feet and to do him divine honor. In 
this he betrayed his heathen training. Remembering the 
vision of the angel he looked upon Peter as deserving the 
greatest honor. But Peter would not tolerate this for a 
moment. Lifting Cornelius up, he said, "Stand up; I my- 
self also am a man." What Cornelius did was an act of 
worship. The same word Satan used when he demanded 
that the Lord Jesus Christ should fall down and worship 
him, God alone is to be worshipped, Such reverence 



202 



which Cornelius did is not to be rendered to a mere man 
nor to an angel (see Rev. xix:10 and xxii:9). "Worship 
God;" the Apostle John is told as he fell at the feet of the 
angel which showed him the things he saw. Some Chris- 
tians have declared that even the Lord Jesus Christ should 
not be worshipped. But this is a serious mistake. The 
Lord Jesus Christ is God and worship belongs to him. "That 
all should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father; he 
that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which 
hath sent Him" (John v:23). But what a contrast be- 
tween Peter and those who claim to be the successors of 
Peter! That wicked man-made priesthood, which in its 
assumption has been the corruption of Christianity, demands 
honor and reverence from man. The pope and the priests 
accept reverence from man, which belongs only to the 
Lord. Ritualism, whether in Romish, Greek or Protestant 
form, always exalts a man and looks upon sinful man as 
having authority and therefore entitled to honor and wor- 
ship. "His Worship," "His Grace," "His Reverence," 
"His Eminence," "His Holiness," etc., are the titles 
attached by ritualistic Christendom to men. For this there 
is no authority whatever in the Word of God. Peter's 
action here repudiates the whole thing. His Epistle in which 
by the Spirit of God he teaches the priesthood of all believers 
and not once mentions anything about himself, as holding a 
place above the other believers, is a complete refutal of tra- 
- ditional Christendom. Indeed, Ritualism is a return to 
heathenish customs; it is idolatry. Such is the teaching of 
Galatians iv:9-ll. 

Then Peter went with Cornelius into the house, telling 
him of how God had in the vision on the house top delivered 
him from the traditional Jewish prejudices and that he had 
now full liberty to enter into the house of a non-Jew and 
did no longer consider such an act unlawful. Asking Cor- 
nelius for what intent he had sent for him, the centurion 



203 



rehearses once more the answer which God had sent hirrij 
when he had prayed. He closes his address to Peter with 
those familiar words, "Now, therefore, are we all here pres- 
ent before God to hear all things that are commanded thee 
of God." How beautiful all this is and how comforting to 
the heart! In His days upon the earth our Lord had said: 
"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them 
also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice and there 
shall be one flock and one shepherd" (John x:16). Here 
in His own blessed way the risen Christ accomplishes what 
He predicted. The other sheep are the Gentiles, the one 
flock* is the church and the one shepherd over all the Lord 
Jesus Christ. He was the actor in this great event. He 
drew Cornelius and spoke to him. And He is still the same 
Lord, who adds to His flock. He still calls the other sheep. 

Cornelius and his kinsmen knew the messenger was 
sent of God and that the message he brings was God's 
message. Peter knew he was sent and that souls had been 
prepared to hear the message. How blessed the meetings 
of God's people might be if such were always the case, and 
the servant of Christ were conscious in dependence on the 
Lord as His messenger, sent of God, and if those who come 
to hear, came expecting God's own message for their souls. 

IV. Peter preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. 

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that 
God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth 
him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. The word 
which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by 
Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, / say, ye know, 
which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, 
after the baptism which John preached; how God anointed Jesus 
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about 

*Not fold as the authorized version has it. Judaism was a fold, 
but Christianity, according to the New Testament, knows nothing 
of a fold, but there is one flock. 



204 



doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for 
God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he 
did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they 
slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and 
shewed him openly; not to all people, but unto witnesses chosen 
before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after 
he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the 
people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to 
he the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets 
witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall 
receive remission of sins. (Verses 34-43.) 

There is a great difference between Peter's address to 
the Gentiles and his previously reported addresses to the 
Jews. The word repentance so prominent in his witness 
to Jerusalem is absent entirely. These words of Peter 
may be divided into three parts: 

1. The remarks introductory to the Gospel. Peter de- 
clares that he perceives that God is not a respecter of persons. 
This statement was made already in the Old Testament. 
See Deut. x:17; 2 Chronicles xix:7 and Job xxxiv:19. The 
Holy Spirit brings this to Peter's remembrance. Peter 
had previously looked upon God as a respecter of persons, 
but his experience had convinced him that such was not 
the case. The same truth is very significantly mentioned 
in the opening chapters of Romans, the chapters which 
so clearly prove that there is no difference, but that all, 
Jews and Gentiles, have sinned and come short of the glory 
of God. In Romans ii :10— 1 1 we read: "But glory, honor 
and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first 
and also to the Gentiles." The same truth Peter states 
here: "but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh 
righteousness, is accepted with Him." However, this does 
not mean, as it is so often declared, that the heathen's nat- 
ural light and acquired morality renders him acceptable 
in the sight of God. The fear of God and the working of 
righteousness is not the product of the natural heart, but 



205 



the work of God Himself. Such work is not confined 
to the Jewish soul but is done also through grace in the 
Gentiles. This is the meaning of the statement. Peter 
adds something which is often overlooked. He tells Cor- 
nelius and his friends that they were not ignorant of the 
Word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preach- 
ing peace by Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. They knew 
of all this and had heard of it in some way. The blessing 
was in possession of the children of Israel. For this reason 
the centurion must have loved the nation Israel and did 
good unto them. But he had no assurance that that which 
was preached to Israel was to be enjoyed by him, nor did 
Peter realize it till God revealed it to him that the Gentiles 
were to be sharers of it. 

2. Then Peter explains that word and briefly rehearses 
the facts concerning Jesus of Nazareth. God had anointed 
Him with the Holy Spirit and with power. God was with 
Him. It was demonstrated by what He did, going about 
doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the 
devil. They had been witnesses of all this. In a brief 
sentence Peter mentions the death of Christ, that they 
slew Him and hanged Him on a tree. Then follows the 
declaration of His resurrection. God raised Him up the 
third day. But He was not seen by all the people, but 
only by those whom God had chosen; who did eat and 
drink with Him. 

With what interest the centurion and those with him 
must have listened to this blessed message, much of which 
was known to them by hearsay, but here stood Peter, one 
of the eye witnesses of all this which had happened. One 
directly sent by God was telling out all this in their presence. 
But he was a Jew, who spoke these words. They were 
Gentiles. What meaning had all this for them? The third 
part of Peter's address makes this clear. It brings the blessed 
Gospel of Christ home to their hearts. 



206 



3. The Apostle speaks next of the fact that Christ had 
given them a commission. He commanded them to preach 
unto the people and to testify that it is He which God 
ordained to be the judge of quick and dead. But the 
centurion and his company could not take any comfort 
in this preaching. Who else were the people but the Jewish 
people to whom that risen One had given commandment 
to preach. The Holy Spirit might have worded His message 
in another way, which would have revealed the truth in a 
general way. He might have said that the Lord had given 
a commission which said: "Go ye into all the world, preach 
the Gospel to every creature." From this they might have 
reasoned, we are creatures of God, therefore the Gospel 
is for us. He chose another, a more precious way, a way 
which was to bring blessing to Peter's heart as well. The 
truth flasheth at once into Peter's heart and mind as he 
spoke. "To Him," he declares, "give all the prophets wit- 
ness that through His Name Whosoever believeth in 
Him shall receive remission of sins." Some have made the 
statement that Peter and the other Apostles were not 
obedient to the Lord's command when they tarried in 
Jerusalem, that it was the Lord's will for them to spread 
the Gospel among the Gentiles at once. Instead of carrying 
out the commission they abode in that city. However, 
this view is incorrect. They acted according to God's will. 
Peter did not realize the full meaning of the Lord's purpose 
until the proper time had come for it and then the power 
of God made it clear to Him. It was revealed to Peter 
as he spoke these words that there was indeed no difference, 
that God is no respecter of persons. The truth so fully 
revealed in a doctrinal way in Romans iii:22 that the right- 
eousness of God, by faith in Jesus Christ is unto all and 
upon all them that believe, Jew and Gentile, bursts upon 
the Apostle of the circumcision through divine illumina- 
tion. Blessed and precious sentence, which Peter uttered — 



207 



" through His Name whosoever believeth in Him shall 
receive remission of sins." Yes, whosoever, it is the word 
which tells out the meaning of the Gospel for a lost and 
guilty world. " Whosoever " — the Lord had used it Him- 
self knowing the blessed results of His work on the cross. 
" For God so loved the world that He gave His only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not 
perish but have everlasting life." And when God closes 
His Holy Word on the last page, He must tell a sinful world 
once more that blessed word God's own redeemed people 
love so well. " And whosoever will, let him take the water 
of life freely" (Rev. xxii:17). 

The great truth has been spoken for the first time. The 
full and free good news of salvation through His Name 
has been offered for the first time to Gentiles. What is 
the result? 

V. The interrupted Message. 

While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all 
them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which 
believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because 
that on the Gentiles also was poured forth the gift of the Holy 
Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify 
God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these 
should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well 
as we? And he commanded them to be baptized, in the name of 
the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. (Verses 
44-48.) 

Peter's message was suddenly interrupted. He intended 
to continue; he had only begun to speak (Chapter xi: 15) 
when he was arrested. The Holy Spirit fell on all them 
which heard the Word. Cornelius and those with Him had 
been ignorant of this very fact, which Peter had made known. 
They heard that all this salvation, the remission of sins, was 
for them and in that moment as they heard the Word they 
believed and as soon as they believed, the very moment they 



208 



accepted this blessed message, the Holy Spirit fell on them. 
It was then demonstrated that the gift of the Holy Spirit is 
given by hearing of faith. The apostle of the Gentiles wrote 
later to the foolish Galatians, who were falling from grace 
by going back under the law, "this only would I learn of you, 
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hear- 
ing of faith?" (Gal. ii:2). Even so in this blessed Gospel the 
sealing with the Spirit and much else is received in believ- 
ing. Something new had taken place. On Pentecost it 
meant water baptism as a condition of receiving the Holy 
Spirit (Acts ii:38) and the remission of sins; in Samaria 
the Apostles, Peter and John, according to the wisdom of God, 
had to lay on hands, but here without water baptism and 
laying on of hands the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles. 
Nor was there any process of seeking, surrendering, examin- 
ing themselves, giving up, praying for it, but by hearing of 
faith, in believing the message of the Gospel the Holy Spirit 
fell on them. And to show that every barrier between Jew 
and Gentile had been removed, that nothing inferior had 
been bestowed upon Gentiles, than that which came upon 
the believing Jews on the day of Pentecost, Cornelius, his 
kinsmen and friends spoke with tongues and magnified God. 
It was the conclusive evidence that Gentiles, uncircumcised 
and unbaptized, received the Holy Spirit like the Jews. 
"And as I began to speak the Holy Spirit fell on them as on 
us in the beginning." 

Water baptism follows. Up to this chapter water baptism 
preceded the gift of the Holy Spirit. This shows the place 
water baptism holds on the ground of grace. Water bap- 
tism has no place in the proclamation of the Gospel of Grace. 
It is not a means of grace, nor a sacrament. Peter, however, 
does not slight nor ignore baptism. "Can any man forbid 
water?"" Then he commanded them to be baptized in the 
name of the Lord. This shows that not Peter himself did 
this act; it is therefore not a ministerial thing. This, too, 



209 



was done here in anticipation of what should be made of 
baptism through "ordained men" who claim apostolic suc- 
cession. 

Peter was requested to tarry with the happy company 
certain days. No doubt he must have fulfilled their request. 
What blessed intercourse they must have had! 



210 



CHAPTER XI. 

The present chapter we divide into four parts: 

I. Peter's defence in Jerusalem and its result (Verses 
1-18). 

II. The Foundation of the Church in Antioch (Verses 
19-21). 

III. Barnabas sent to Antioch (Verses 22-26). 

IV. The Prophecy of Agabus (Verses 27-30). 

I. Peter's defence in Jerusalem and its results. 

And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that the 
Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter 
was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision con- 
tended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, 
and didst eat with them. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the 
beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying, I was in 
the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A cer- 
tain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from 
heaven by four corners; and it came even to me: Upon the which 
when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw four-footed 
beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls 
of the air. And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; 
slay and eat. But I said, Not so, Lord: for-nothing common or 
unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. But the voice 
answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that 
call not thou common. And this was done three times: and all 
were drawn up again into heaven. And behold, immediately there 
were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent 
from Caesarea unto me. And the Spirit bade me go with them, 
nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, 
and we entered into the man's house: And he showed us how he 
had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, 
Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 
Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall 
be saved. And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, 



211 



as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the 
Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye 
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God 
gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, what was I, that I could withstand God? When 
they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, 
saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance 
unto life. (Verses 1-18.) 

Peter had tarried certain days with the happy company 
in Caesarea, no doubt, telling them more of the Lord, of 
His life and miracles, His death and resurrection. How 
blessed this fellowship must have been! It fully demonstrated 
that the middle wall of partition had been broken down and 
that the believing Jews and Gentiles were one in Christ 
Jesus. But the report of his action and that the Gentiles 
had received the Word of God reached the apostles and 
brethren in Judea. Instead of creating rejoicing over what 
God had done, contention arose and the danger of a division 
was imminent. Failure is seen once more. Murmurings 
had arisen before (Chapter vi); but here party spirit showed 
itself for the first time. This subtle work of the flesh (Gal. 
v:20*) was ready to make a rend among the brethren. 
We must bear in mind that two classes of Jews composed the 
assemblies in Jerusalem and in Judea. The Hellenists and 
the more strict Palestinian Jews. To the latter class belonged 
many Pharisees and the large number of priests, who had 
believed. These were all zealous for the law (Acts xxi:20). 

These still looked upon the Gentiles as unclean. Their 
belief was that a Gentile in order to be saved had to submit 
to circumcision and become a Jew. Years later we find them 
very outspoken about this in the record of the first church 
council held in Jerusalem. Publicly they stated "that it was 
needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep 

*The words translated in Gal. v:20 by " seditions, heresies," really 
mean " disputes, schools of opinion." 



212 



the law of Moses" (Acts xv:5). Here the party spirit asserts 
itself and the dissenters are called "they of the circumcision," 
which means that some of them pressed circumcision and the 
law unduly, for all the Jewish believers were of the circum- 
cision. Gradually they became a strong party in the church. 
Striking it is, too, that Peter is called later "the apostle of 
the circumcision," and later his action in Antioch, so incon- 
sistent with the events in Caesarea, brought forth the 
divine rebuke through the apostle of the Gentiles (Gal. i:14). 
The eating with the Gentiles was the one point of accusation 
here. "They seemed to have heard the fact, without any 
circumstantial detail from some reporter, who gave the objec- 
tionable part of it, as it is not uncommon in such cases, all 
prominence."* 

Peter's answer is most instructive. He does not refer to 
his apostolic authority. He might have reminded them of 
the fact that the Lord at another Caesarea had committed 
unto him "the Keys of the kingdom of heaven," and that in 
virtue of this commission he had acted. But no reference to 
that is made at all by him. Nor does he go to his fellow apos- 
tles to lay the matter before them. His defence consists in 
a rehearsal of what had taken place. We do not need to 
follow this again, as we have already done so in the previous 
chapter. The statements given proved irresistible. Here 
were facts which were unanswerable. They heard these 
things, they held their peace. But more than that, they be- 
gan to praise instead of strife; they glorified God. Grate- 
fully they acknowledged that God had granted to the Gen- 
tiles repentance unto life. In the course of time this wonder- 
ful opening of the door to the Gentiles was forgotten and 
"they of the circumcision" became a strong party. Peter 
but briefly refers in Acts xv to that, which he so fully de- 
scribes here. 



*Dean Alford in Greek Testament. 



213 



II. The Foundation of the Church in Antioch. 

Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that 
arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and 
Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And 
some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they 
were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord 
Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great 
number believed, and turned unto the Lord. (Verses 19-21.) 

The nineteenth verse connects with Chapter viii:4. The 
great persecution had scattered the believers. Philip had 
been the chosen instrument to bring the gospel to Samaria. 
That had to be reported first. And now we are to learn what 
others did and where they proclaimed the blessed Gospel. 
They went to Phenice. This was a strip of coast land some 
120 miles long. Tyre and Sidon were cities of Phenice. 
There the Gospel was preached and with blessed results, 
which appear later in this book (xxi: 4-7; xxvii: 3). Cyprus 
was closely connected with Phenice. Many ships sailed 
constantly from the Phenician ports to that island. Barnabas 
and Mnason (xxi: 16) were from Cyprus. Then others must 
have gone along the coast and reached Antioch. They all 
preached to the Jews only. But someof these evangelists were 
men of Cyprus and Cyrene who, when they came to Antioch, 
preached the Lord Jesus to the Greeks, that is to the Gentiles. 
A great number of these turned unto the Lord and believed. 
Antioch comes into prominence as the other great center of 
Christianity, second only to Jerusalem. Here the preaching 
to the Gentiles was begun and fully recognized by the church 
in Jerusalem. 

From here the great missionary movement of the apostolic 
age started. Here Saul appears again to take from now on, 
as the apostle of the Gentiles, a leading part. In Antioch, 
furthermore, the disciples were called "Christians" for the 
first time. In Jerusalem, this name was unknown; they 
were termed "the sect of the Nazarenes." All this brings 



out the great importance as the center of Christianity on 
Gentile ground. This importance has led some to see in 
Antioch the place where the church began to come into exist- 
ence. It is denied that the day of Pentecost was the birth- 
day of the church, but the claim is made that the church was 
born in Antioch. This is a far-fetched theory, which lacks 
scriptural support. We have already shown that Pentecost 
was the day on which the church began. No event like the 
baptism of the Holy Spirit took place in Antioch, but Anti- 
och shared in that which had happened in Jerusalem. The 
Antiochan Gentile believers were simply added by the 
same Spirit to the church, the foundations of which 
are the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself be- 
ing the chief cornerstone (Eph. ii: 20). Antioch itself 
was an influential city founded by Seleucus Nicator 
300 B. C. It was a beautiful city situated on the river 
Orontes, with marvellous scenery. It was a luxurious, 
voluptuous city, steeped in the greatest immoralities. Here 
the Gospel was to be manifested as the power of God unto 
salvation. 

It is a very striking contrast with what goes before in this 
great historical book that the instruments used in preaching 
the Gospel to the Antiochenes, and in the establishment of 
the church among them, are not named. The true character 
of the church, independent of any human, earthly authority, 
dependent on Him who is Head over all, is indicated in this 
fact. And yet, as we shall see directly, the new departure 
had to be acknowledged and recognized in Jerusalem. It 
needed, however, not apostles to lay their hands upon them, 
so that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 

III. Barnabas sent to Antioch. 

Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church 
which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he 
should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he cam?, and had seen 
the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with pur-, 



215 



pose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good 
man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people 
was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, 
for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him 
unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they as- 
sembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. 
And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Verses 
22-26.) 

The wonderful work done in Antioch, the assembling of 
large numbers of Greeks, who had turned to the Lord, in- 
duced the church in Jerusalem to send forth Barnabas. The 
church in Jerusalem felt a responsibility towards this new 
evidence of the power of their risen and glorified Lord. They 
wanted to know in Jerusalem if the reports were true, and 
if true the assembly had to be recognized as such. This shows 
that the Oneness of the church, though not yet fully made 
known by revelation, was nevertheless realized through the 
Holy Spirit. And that a blessed relationship existed between 
the assembly in Jerusalem and the one in Antioch, is seen 
by Peter's visit in that city, when in the liberty wherewith 
Christ, has made us free, he ate with these believing Gentiles 
and enjoyed fellowship with them (Gal. ii :1 1—12). Bar- 
nabas was well fitted for the mission. However, he does not 
come as an apostolic delegate, to baptize, to confirm or to 
admit these new believers into some fellowship, but his mis- 
sion was simply to see if "the tidings of these things" were 
true. And if true the recognition of these Gentile believers 
had to follow. 

Barnabas when he came saw the grace of God. The 
original is more emphatic: "the grace which was that of 
God" is a better reading. He saw that a genuine work of 
the Holy Spirit had been accomplished. This filled his 
heart with joy. His exhortation was that with purpose of 
heart they should cleave to the Lord. Nothing else was 
needed. These Gentile believers were the Lord's and as 
such they were to cleave to the Lord. The unity with the; 



216 



fellow believers in Jerusalem was with this recognized. 
Barnabas did not remain idle while he was in Antioch. The 
Holy Spirit used him mightily. The exhortations of the 
good Barnabas, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, resulted 
in a great crowd which was added unto the Lord. This 
latter expression is the same as used in chapter ii: 42 and 47. 

But here was a great field; a strong man was needed. No 
angel nor heavenly vision points out that man. Barnabas 
knew him, and guided by the indwelling Spirit, the Son of 
consolation, for this is the meaning of Barnabas, departs 
to go to the nearby Tarsus to find Saul. Saul was his man. 
Barnabas had introduced him to the apostles and there can 
be no question at all that Barnabas knew from Saul's lips 
and experience, that he had been called by the Lord to preach 
to the Gentiles. He found him in Tarsus. Patiently Saul 
must have waited for the right moment when his life's work 
should begin. That time had now come. We see them to- 
gether in Antioch for a whole year; they assembled them- 
selves with the church, and taught much people. A brief 
sentence tells us that these Gentiles, who had become be- 
lievers in the Lord, were first called Christians in Antioch. 

The movement had attracted the attention of the out- 
siders. The Jews, it is certain, did not give this name, but 
the Gentiles invented it. Antioch was famous for its readi- 
ness to jeer and call names; it was known by its witty epi- 
grams. So they coined a new word, ''Christianoi" — 
Christians. It is used exclusively by outsiders, as seen in 
the case of Agrippa, also see 1 Pet. iv: 16. Jews and Gen- 
tiles alike were called by this name, "Christians," so that it 
bears testimony to the oneness of Jew and Gentile in Christ. 

IV. The Prophecy of Agabus. 

And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. 
And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by 
the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the . 



217 



world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then 
the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to 
send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea: Which also 
they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and 
Saul. (Verses 27-30.) 

An additional proof is found in these verses of the inter- 
course and fellowship, which existed between the assembly 
in Jerusalem and the assembly in Antioch. Prophets came 
to Antioch from Jerusalem. This is the first time that 
New Testament prophets are mentioned. They came as a 
gift of the Lord to His church next to the apostles. Many 
were prophets in the early days of Christianity. However, 
their gift must not be limited to predictions. Any one who 
speaks of divine things out of the fullness of a heart, which is 
in blessed communion with God, prophesies. These spiritual 
gifts were led from Jerusalem to Antioch to minister there. 
Prominent amongst them is Agabus.* He made a prediction 
that a great famine should soon come. It came during the 
days of Claudius Caesar. Then follows a precious action, 
which clearly shows again the blessed fellowship and unity 
of the church. Then the disciples, every man according to 
his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren 
which dwelt in Judea. The church in Jerusalem was poor, 
the disciples in Antioch were more blessed with earthly 
things. And now, according to their ability, it was an indi- 
vidual matter, they gave. They sent temporal gifts to Jeru- 
salem from which they had received so much spiritual 
blessing. Barnabas and Saul carried the fellowship to the 
elders of the assembly in Jerusalem. 

*The same Agabus who appears in xxi:ll. 




With this chapter we reach the conclusion of the second 
part of this book. Jerusalem had heard the second offer 
concerning the Kingdom and mercy was ready even for the 
murderers of the Prince of Life. But that offer was rejected. 
Stephen's testimony followed by his martyrdom marked the 
close of that second offer to the city where our Lord had 
been crucified. Then broke out a great persecution and they 
were scattered abroad except the Apostles. With the eighth 
chapter we saw the Gospel preached in Judea and Samaria. 
From our last chapter we learned that others who were 
driven out of Jerusalem preached the Word in Phenice, 
Cyprus and Antioch. In this second section of the Book of 
Acts the conversion of Saul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, 
Peter's acts and his preaching to Cornelius, the foundation 
of the church in Antioch as a second great center of Chris- 
tianity, are reported. The twelfth chapter, with which this 
part of Acts closes, is an interesting one. It is not only 
interesting on account of the historical information it con- 
tains, but also because of its dispensational foreshadowing. 
Once more we are introduced to Jerusalem and see another 
great tribulation. The wicked King is reigning over the 
city. James is killed with the sword, while Peter is impris- 
oned but wonderfully delivered; the evil King, who claimed 
divine power and worship, is suddenly smitten by the judg- 
ment of the Lord. Then the Word grew and multiplied, 
Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem to Antioch, 
from where the great missionary operations were soon to be 
conducted. The events in Jerusalem, James' martyrdom 
under King Herod, Peter's imprisonment and deliverance, 
as well as the fate of the persecuting King foreshadow the 
events with which this present age will close. After the true 
church is ta,ken from the earth, that is when 1 Thess. iv: 16- 



219 



17 is fulfilled, the great tribulation will take place. While 
great tribulation and judgment will come upon the whole 
world, the great tribulation will come upon the Jewish people 
who have returned in part to their own land. In the midst 
of the masses of unbelieving Jews, there will be found a 
remnant of God-fearing Jews, who are converted and bear 
testimony to the truth. A wicked King, the man of sin, the 
false Messiah, will then be in power in Jerusalem. Part of 
that Jewish remnant will suffer martyrdom; these are rep- 
resented by James, whom Herod, the type of the Antichrist, 
slew. Another part will be delivered as Peter was delivered. 
Herod's presumption and fate clearly points to that of the 
Antichrist (2 Thess. ii:3-8). All this may well be kept in 
mind as we study this chapter in detail. 

I. The great persecution of the church by Herod 
Agrippa I (Verses 1-5). 

II. The miraculous deliverance of Peter (Verses 6-17). 

III. The Presumption and Judgment of King Herod 
(Verses 18-23). 

IV. Barnabas and Saul returning to Antioch (Verses 
24-25). 

I. The great persecution of the church by Herod 
Agrippa I. 

Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands 
to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of 
John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he 
proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of un- 
leavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him he put him 
in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to 
keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. 
Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without 
ceasing of the church unto God for him. (Verses 1-5.) 

The second great persecution broke out. It was about 
that time when the events had taken place with which the 
previous chapter closed. Herod, the King, mentioned here 



220 



is known in history as Herod Agrippa I. He was the grand- 
son of Herod the Great. First he had the tetrarchy of 
Philip (Luke iii: 1), then he received the territory of Herod 
Antipas, Galilee and Peraea; lastly through political intrigue 
he added to his Kingdom Judea and Samaria. Much of 
his time was spent in Rome, where he lived extravagantly. 
When he came to Jerusalem he tried in every possible way 
to gain the good will of the Jews by an outward observance 
of the law and defence of their customs. The persecution of 
the church was no doubt inspired by the desire to gain favour 
with the Jews. As far as the historical account goes, it seems 
his hatred was exclusively directed against the Apostles; 
James was killed by the sword. This James was the brother 
of John, one of the three disciples who are specially mentioned 
in the Gospels. With his younger brother John and Peter, 
he had witnessed the raising of Jairus' daughter, had been 
on the mount of transfiguration and m Gethsemane. No 
record is given of his work as an Apostle nor anything about 
his trial; the details of his martyrdom are also passed over. 
He was put to death in the same way as John the Baptist, 
beheaded with the sword. This mode of death was looked 
upon by the Jews as the most disgraceful. The Talmud 
makes this statement and informs us that this punishment 
was used in case someone misled the people to worship other 
gods. Whether this was the accusation or not which was 
brought against James, we do not know. The two sons of 
Zebedee, James and John, had desired to sit at the right and 
at the left hand in His Kingdom. The Lord had answered 
them, after their declaration that they could drink the cup 
that he was to drink of, and had said, "Ye shall drink indeed 
of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am 
baptized with" (Matt. xx:23), and here is the fulfillment 
of this prediction in the life of James. He is the first Apostle 
who died and the only Apostle of whose death we have an 
account given in the New Testament. That no record is 



221 



given of the details of His suffering and death is also signi- 
ficant. Well has one said: "In days of ardent faith and also 
of expectation of the Lord's speedy return, death sank into 
its true place as simply a change of condition; it was but a 
falling asleep. Accordingly instead of dwelling with morbid 
interest on the painful details of the martyr's sufferings, the 
church pressed forward to reap with joy the harvest of their 
blood."* 

The bloody deed pleased the Jews and the wicked King 
stretched out his hand against Peter and put him into 
prison. Peter was the only remaining Apostle in Jerusalem. 
This seems to be clear from verse 17. Peter requests that 
his deliverance be made known to James (the Lord's brother) 
and to the brethren. His fellow Apostles, the ten, are not 
mentioned by him. They were away from Jerusalem at that 
time. That one of the twelve had been taken away and the 
others, with the exception of Peter, were not in Jerusalem, 
is a hint that their work in connection with the nation was 
ended. 

Peter was put into prison for the third time. The wonder- 
ful deliverance of the same man as recorded in chapter iv 
must have been still vividly in the minds of many of the 
Jews and it may have led to the great caution exercised in 
this imprisonment. Four quaternions of soldiers guarded 
him. He was in the inner ward. A soldier was on each side 
and he was bound with two chains and the keepers before the 
door kept the prison. Thus he was kept in that prison. 
Cruel Herod would stamp out the Nazarenes and Peter 
was to share James' fate.f 

*R. B. Rackham. 

fFour Herods are mentioned in the New Testament. All are types of 
the Anti-Christ and all were energized by Satan. Herod the Great who 
had the children of Bethlehem killed. The Herod who killed John 
the Baptist. The Herod who slew James, and the Herod Agrippa before 
whom Paul stood and preached. 



222 



But prayer was made without ceasing by "the church unto 
God for him." Of this Herod knew nothing; with this fact 
the cruel despot did not reckon. Nothing is said of prayer 
having been made for James. Perhaps his martyrdom was 
a sudden event. Or it may have been that the Holy Spirit 
indicated at once that James was to glorify the Lord by 
his death and no prayer could then be made for his release. 
The church held a prayer-meeting and it was a prolonged 
prayer-meeting. However, the word translated "without 
ceasing" means "intensely." It was an intense prayer- 
meeting and of course was therefore carried on without 
ceasing. The prayer-meeting was held in a private house, 
as we shall see later. One member suffered and so all suf- 
fered. Prayer was their refuge; they were led into it by the 
Holy Spirit. 

II. The miraculous deliverance of Peter. 

And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night 
Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains: 
and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And behold, the 
angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: 
and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up saying, Arise up 
quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel 
said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals: and so he 
did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and fol- 
low me. And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that 
it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a 
vision. When they were past the first and second ward, they came 
unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them 
of its own accord: and they went out and passed on through one 
street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when 
Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that 
the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the 
hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the 
Jews. And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house 
of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where 
many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at 



223 



the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. 
And when she knew Peter's voice she opened not the gate for 
gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And 
they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed 
that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter con- 
tinued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, 
they were astonished. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand 
to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought 
him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto 
James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into 
another place. (Verses 6-17.) 

A few hours before Herod intended to carry out his 
wicked scheme the prayer of the church was answered. 
Peter was sleeping between the two soldiers, in all prob- 
ability chained to each, so as to make another escape an 
impossibility. And why did Peter sleep so peacefully? 
It was not the sleep of exhaustion, but must have been 
the result of a calm mind trusting in the Lord. Perhaps he 
remembered in that prison the words which the risen Lord 
had addressed to him at the shore of the lake Tiberias: 
"When thou shalt be old thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, 
and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou 
wouldest not." Thus the Lord had spoken, signifying thereby 
by what death he should glorify God. He was not yet old. 
He knew his Lord was greater than poor, miserable Herod. 
Peter rested in the Lord and in His gracious word to him. 
Oh I that God's people might know the calm rest of faith. 
Our lives are in His hands. He is over us and no enemy 
can harm us; nothing can touch us without His will. 

An angel appeared and delivered Peter. The chains fell 
from his hands. The light of glory shone in the prison. He 
obeyed the angel, following him as in a dream. The first 
and second ward passed, they came to the iron gate, which 
opened by itself. Outside in the street the angel departed. 
Then Peter realized that the Lord had sent an angel to 
deliver him. No further comment on the details of this mir- 



224 



acle is necessary. In spite of all the precautions, Peter was 
delivered, and once more the prison was empty. Still on 
Kingdom ground an angel was seen. Through this age the 
ministry of angels is hidden. This book closes with another 
prisoner, Paul, in Rome; no angel was sent to lead him forth. 
And ever after there have been unaccountable prisons in 
which the children of God suffered for Christ and for right- 
eousness sake, but the heavens were silent and did not inter- 
fere. Thousands were tortured and dragged out a miser- 
able existence in prison till death released them, and, though 
prayers ascended for their deliverance, no answer came. 
This has been a mystery to not a few and has been one of 
the taunts of infidelity. But one of the characteristics of 
the present age are the closed heavens.* They will not be 
closed forever. James' death and Peter's deliverance fore- 
shadow the death of future Jewish saints during the tribu- 
lation and the miraculous deliverance of others. 

Once more Peter goes to his own company. They are 
gathered in the house of Mary, the mother of John. The 
Mary here is the mother of John Mark, and she is here intro- 
duced for the first time in the Book of Acts; she was the 
aunt of Barnabas. The house must have been a large one, 
for there was a court-yard. In the spacious house a goodly 
number of believers were gathered, engaged in prayer. No 
leader was there, for we read that James and the brethren 
were absent. It was, as we say, an informal gathering, 
but the Holy Spirit was the leader. Perhaps they were 
still on their knees when Peter knocked for admission. The 
maid Rhoda (Rose) hastened to the gate. Gladness filled 
her heart when she recognized Peter's voice. For joy she 
forgot all about that latch at the gate, and instead of open- 



*We recommend to our readers the excellent book by Sir Robert 
Anderson " The Silence of God," It deals with this question. The 
book can be ordered from us. 



225 



mg to Peter she ran back to the house to communicate the 
good news. She must have interrupted the prayers of the 
assembled company. The prayer had been answered, and 
praise was now in order. Alas! there was no response from 
their side. Instead of believing that Peter had been deliv- 
ered, they looked upon the happy, beaming face of Rhoda 
and said, "thou art mad." Not one of the company believed 
that Peter had been released. Rhoda was the one who be- 
lieved that it was Peter. And this is undoubtedly the reason 
why her name is mentioned in this book. The poor maid, 
perhaps a slave girl, pleased God because she had faith. 
While there was great earnestness in that prayer meet- 
ing, when the prayer was answered, unbelief manifested 
itself. 

When Rhoda could not be shaken in her belief that it was 
really Peter, the company tried to explain the knocking in 
a spiritualistic way. "It is his angel," they said. This is 
generally believed to mean that it was his "guardian angel." 
Upon this expression, much of the belief in guardian angels 
is founded. However, it is far-fetched to do so. They meant 
by this expression, the disembodied spirit of Peter. They 
thought that he had been martyred and that it was a kind of 
spiritistic manifestation of the fact. But the door was at last 
opened, and Peter stood safe and sound in their midst; 
then they were astonished. 

After making known how he was delivered, he departed 
and went into another place. This left James, the Lord's 
brother, in Jerusalem. The other Apostles had gone and 
Peter makes likewise haste to leave Jerusalem. Surely this 
marks the conclusion of this transition period. Where did 
Peter go? We do not know. Roman Catholicism declares 
that he went to Rome. There is absolutely no proof for it, 
but all is against it. Peter never saw Rome. Paul wrote his 
Epistle to the Romans in 54, and there we learn that at that 
time no Apostle had visited that city. We see Peter back 



in Jerusalem in chapter xv, and it is clear that he had not 
followed work among the Gentiles. He continued to hold to 
the gospel of the circumcision (Gal. ii:7-8). 

III. The Presumption and Judgment of King Herod. 

Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the 
soldiers, what was become of Peter. And when Herod had sought 
for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and com- 
manded that they should be put to death. And he went down from 
Judea to Cesarea, and there abode. And Herod was highly dis- 
pleased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one 
accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's chamberlain 
their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished 
by the king's country. And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in 
royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. 
And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not 
of man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, be- 
cause he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and 
gave up the ghost. (Verses 18-23.) 

The escape of Peter was soon discovered, and the soldiers, 
being responsible with their lives, according to Roman law, 
were of course greatly distressed. Herod sought for his pris- 
oner, but he was beyond his reach. The keepers were put to 
death by the king. He followed the footsteps of his cruel 
grandfather, who had the children of Bethlehem killed. 

He then left Jerusalem for Caesarea, where he had a mag- 
nificent palace. Some difficulty existed between him and 
the people of Tyre and Sidon. The Phoenician cities were 
dependent on Palestine for food, as their land was but a 
narrow strip along the seacoast. They were therefore forced 
to make peace, which they did through Blastus, their friend 
and the king's chamberlain. Most likely the interest of 
Blastus was gained by a bribe. It also seems that Herod 
must have cut off the supply of the Phoenicians. They could 
not buy nor sell, Thus they were forcedto bow before the 



227 



king. In all this, he appears as a type of the man of sin, whose 
character Herod foreshadows. 

Then a day came when an audience was granted unto the 
people. The king appeared in royal apparel. Josephus, the 
Jewish historian, informs us that his garment was made of 
the brightest silver, which, with the sunlight falling upon it, 
dazzled the eyes of the multitude. He sat on his throne, the 
bema, or judgment seat. Then he made an oration, most 
likely announcing to the ambassadors of Tyre and Sidon 
that he was now reconciled. The scene must have been a 
brilliant one. The people were carried away by the magni- 
ficent spectacle and flattering oration of the king, and cried 
out, "it is the voice of a god and not of a man." No doubt 
the aim of Herod was this very acclamation. He had planned 
it all. The zenith of his glory seemed reached. Monarchs 
were then deified, and Augustus, the emperor, was also wor- 
shipped. He gave not the glory to God, but usurped His 
Glory, and the result was a sudden judgment. 

What happened to Herod is mentioned by Josephus. He, 
however, tries to shield the king, though he speaks of Herod's 
wickedness. He says that sudden pains attacked him, which 
were produced by the sight of an owl, a bird he dreaded, and 
which was seen sitting on one of the ropes of the awning of 
the theatre. The Word of God gives us the true account. 
It was the angel of the Lord that smote him, and he was 
eaten of worms. A most awful and loathsome disease took 
hold of him, and literally he was eaten, after a few days, of 
worms. "He was seized with violent internal pains, and 
carried to his palace. There he lingered five days in extreme 
agony; being eaten of worms, the cause of his intestine dis- 
order." 

The coming antichrist, too, will claim divine honors and 
assume the place of God. His end is foreshadowed in Herod's 
awful fate and the place which is beyond, "where the worm 
does not die." 



IV. Barnabas and Saul returning unto Antioch. 



But the word of God grew and multiplied. And Barnabas and 
Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, 
and took with them John, whose surname was Mark. (Verses 
24-25.) 

Nothing could hinder the victorious progress of the Word of 
God. It grew and was multiplied. Herod's removal by divine 
judgment must have had an influence for the truth. Then 
Barnabas, having been in Jerusalem, went back to Antioch, 
and John Mark accompanied him. The last verse connects 
closely with the beginning of. the third great part of the book. 



229 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The thirteenth chapter is the beginning of the third 
part of this book. The second great center of Christianity 
comes to the front. It is no longer Jerusalem, but the city 
of Antioch. The gospel which had been preached in Jeru- 
salem, in Judea and Samaria, which Cornelius and his house 
had heard, and accepted, is now in a special manner to go 
far hence to the Gentiles. The city in which the first great 
Gentile church had been established is the starting point. 
Peter, so prominent in the first twelve chapters of our book, 
is no longer the leading actor. He is mencioned only once in 
this second part of the Book of Acts. In the fifteenth chap- 
ter in connection with the council in Jerusalem, his voice is 
heard once more. The special work in connection with the 
kingdom of heaven, in opening the door to the Jews and 
Gentiles (Acts ii and chapter x) had been accomplished by 
him. Now he disappears from our view, though he continued 
to exercise his apostleship in connection with the circum- 
cision (Galatians ii:7). Paul, the great Apostle of the 
Gentiles, instead appears upon the scene and his wonderful 
activity is described in the remaining part of the book. The 
opposition and blindness of the Jews in a continued rejection 
of the gospel becomes fully evident throughout this section 
and the book itself closes with the testimony against them : 
"Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God 
is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." (Acts 
xxviii:28). Besides this we shall find in these chapters the 
acts of the Holy Spirit in the call and sending forth of the 
chosen instruments in the way He guided them, how He 
filled them, opened doors, and manifested His gracious 
power in the salvation of sinners and the establishment of 



230 



the church. We also find the acts of the enemy in oppos- 
ing the progress of the gospel and in its perversion. 
We divide, the present chapter into four parts: 

I. The divine choice and call. Barnabas and Saul 
separated unto the work (Verses 1-3). 

II. The beginning of the journey and the first events 
in Cyprus (Verses 4-12). 

III. The Gospel in Galatia. Paul's address in the syn- 
agogue (Verses 13-41). 

IV. The Gospel rejected by the Jews; they turn to the 
Gentiles (Verses 42-52). 

I. The divine choice and call. Barnabas and Saul sep- 
arated unto the work. 

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain 
prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called 
Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought 
up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the 
Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and 
Saul for the work whereunto 1 have called them. And when they 
had fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them 
away. (Verses 1-3.) 

The time was towards the spring of the year 46. The 
picture unfolded in these few words is as important as it is 
precious. The new start is about to be made. The whole 
assembly was undoubtedly moved by the Spirit of God and 
impressed with the fact that an important work was now to 
be begun. The men who are mentioned were some of the 
gifts of the Lord in the assembly. The word "certain," 
however, should be omitted as it does not appear in the older 
manuscripts at all. Five names are given, the first being 
Barnabas and the last Saul, but the last ? he who delighted 



231 



to call himself "less than the least of all the Saints," was 
through the Grace of God to take the first and prominent 
place. Then there was Lucius of Cyrene, an evangelist, 
Simeon, called Niger, who may have been an Ethiopian. 
Along side of him stands the name of one who moved in the 
highest circles, a foster brother of Herod, Manaen. Grace 
had not only saved them, but had given them gifts "for the 
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the 
edifying of the body of Christ" (Ephes. iv: 12). They were 
together as a waiting company. Just as in the beginning of 
this book we behold a waiting company, so in the beginning 
of the second part we find believers waiting. But there is a 
marked difference. The waiting disciples in chapter i 
waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He came on the 
day of Pentecost. The waiting ones in Antioch waited, not 
for His coming, but for the Holy Spirit, who indwelt them, 
to speak and make His wishes known. 

They ministered unto the Lord and fasted. The Greek 
word for ministering is " Leitourgia" from which comes the 
word Liturgy. Ritualism claims from this the scripturalness 
in using 'a set form in service. It has been stated that the 
assembled company remembered the Lord, when they were 
together in this way, and that it was then, when the Holy 
Spirit spoke. The argument used from ritualistic sides is 
the fact that the Greek church still calls the Communion 
"The Liturgy." From this the conclusion is derived that 
they were together remembering the Lord in the breaking of 
bread. This is, of course, far-fetched. However, it is true 
that in the Lord's Supper Christian believers minister to the 
Lord in the highest sense of the word. Whenever it is done 
in the power of the Spirit as a true act of worship, it is the ex- 
ercise of our holy priesthood. We then offer up spiritual 
sacrifices, the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of 
our lips. While we are comforted in the remembrance of 
His dying love, He, too, receives a portion from us and 



232 



beholds then His inheritance in His saints and thus we min- 
ister unto Him. 

The ministry unto the Lord from the side of the gathered 
ones here was no doubt praise and prayer. They waited on 
the Lord. The Lord grant unto every reader this conception 
of prayer, that it is a ministry unto our blessed Lord in 
glory, and that He delights to receive such service from our 
feeble hearts and lips! 

They were not in a hurry to rush into the new departure. 
They had formed no plans, had appointed no committee. 
Alas! all that which is so prominent in our modern day 
Christian activities is entirely absent in this great book of 
the beginning of the church on earth, and that which is 
most prominent in the divine record, dependence on the 
Lord and definite guidance by the Holy Spirit, is almost 
entirely absent today. In our present day great movements 
we hear men, money and methods emphasized, and, in great 
banquets and conventions, an enthusiasm is stirred up, 
which is but the expression of self-confidence and self-reli- 
ance. In the eyes of the world, the simple gathering in 
Antioch did not look like a great movement; but it was 
great because the Holy Spirit was the Person who started 
it and guided in it. And He loves humility, self-emptiness. 
If we cannot reproduce all this in our day, let us as indi- 
viduals, called to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, serve and 
walk in dependence upon Himself, and trust in the guidance 
of the Holy Spirit. The fasting mentioned was most likely 
specially appointed. 

And it was then, while they were ministering to the 
Lord, that the Holy Spirit spoke. This is one of the strong 
passages from which we learn the Personality and Divinity 
of the Holy Spirit. Another most important fact is brought 
here before us. All spiritual Christians long for a continued 
guidance by the Spirit. If we walk in the Spirit, then we are 
guided by the Spirit. This is a simple truth. And yet often 



233 



the children of God are perplexed. Some have followed 
impressions, or inner voices, which they thought were the 
voice of the Holy Spirit, but they were deceived. The im- 
portant hint here is this "As they ministered to the Lord 
and fasted, the Holy Spirit said — ." When we cast ourselves 
in dependence on the Lord, when we wait on Him and min- 
ister to Him, then we may expect confidently the Holy Spirit 
to speak. In His speaking here at this occasion we learn that 
He is on earth to be the guide for the church. He is come to 
take charge of the affairs of the church. The right to choose 
for service, to call and to send forth, belongs to Him. This is 
put into the foreground. The whole transaction rested with 
the Holy Spirit. The words He spoke were brief. "Separate 
unto Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have 
called them." Two of the assembled gifts were separated 
unto Him to undertake a special work. True Christian 
ministry is the exercise of a spiritual gift, which is of the 
Holy Spirit. The exercise of that gift in a practical way is 
to be under the control of the same blessed Person. The 
service rests not in the hands of the servant for self-choosing, 
nor in the hands of the church, but with the Holy Spirit. 

And immediately after the Holy Spirit had thus spoken 
they acted in obedience to the divine call, laid hands upon 
them, and let them go. This action has been wrongly inter- 
preted as an ordination. Hence we have the teaching and 
practice in evangelical Christendom of ordaining men to go 
out as missionaries, or ordaining them as pastors of churches 
or evangelists. Such an ordination is not taught here. It is 
not taught anywhere in the New Testament Scriptures. 
The authority to preach the Gospel cannot be conferred by 
one man upon another man, but it is "neither of men nor 
by man" (Gal. i:l). No man nor set of men, according to the 
New Testament, can give the authority to preach the Word 
of God. That is a gift from Him and, we state it again, the 
gift must be exercised through the guidance of the Holy 



234 



Spirit. This is the teaching of the New Testament. How 
the professing church has departed from this teaching and 
how much of the confusion and ruin in Christendom about 
us is the result of this departure, is only too evident. Multi- 
tudes of men have entered into and are today in, what is 
called "the Christian ministry," ordained by some session 
or conference, whom the Holy Spirit never called and set 
apart unto Himself. And the conditions are far worse in the 
denominations in which ordination in the form of apostolic 
succession is used to put man into the place of a "priest" in 
the church. 

Now Barnabas and Saul needed no ordination whatever 
by which they were authorized to fill a certain office and 
preach the Word. They were both preachers and teachers. 
How could they be ordained to an office if they were in it 
for a good while? If they were to be ordained to something 
higher than the office of a prophet and teacher, it must have 
been the place of an apostle. But that could not be, for 
Paul was already an apostle. 

But what did it mean when they laid hands on them? 
One of their number had uttered that which was the voice 
of the Holy Spirit. The assembly or church had heard 
this call. They accepted it as from the Holy Spirit and 
were obedient to it. Then by the laying on of hands they 
expressed outwardly their fellowship and identification with 
the two who had been set apart to do the work to which 
the Holy Spirit had called. They had nothing to do with 
their work but to wish them the blessing of the Lord show- 
ing their fellowship in it. 

This is seen by the last sentence in the third verse. Unfor- 
tunately, the authorized version states that "They sent 
them way." Its correct rendering is "They let them go." 
The church, or the elders of the church, did not send them 
away. The very next verse guards against such a thought, 
for it tells us "They being sent forth by the Holy Spirit." 



235 



II. The beginning of the journey. The first events in 
Cyprus. 

So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto 
Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they 
were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues 
of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister. And when 
they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain 
sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus: Which 
was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent 
man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the 
word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by 
interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy 
from the faith. Then Saul (who also is called Paul) filled with 
the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him. And said, O full of all sub- 
tility and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of 
all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of 
the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, 
and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And 
immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went 
about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, 
when he saw -what was done, believed, being astonished at the doc- 
trine of the Lord. (Verses 4-12.) 

They set forth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who 
had called them to this service and to Him, and not to men 
they looked. The first place mentioned is Seleucia. This 
was a fortified city, some fifteen miles from Antioch. No 
report is given of any work done in this city. The island of 
Cyprus, visible from the seacoast at Seleucia, the home of 
Barnabas, was the place they were guided to by the Spirit. 
The nearest port to Seleucia is Salamis; this they reached. 
Salamis had a large Jewish population and Barnabas and Saul 
preached the Word in the synagogues. John Mark is men- 
tioned as being along as their helper. Some take it that he 
was to baptize the converts, but there is no evidence for it. 
He was simply an attendant, who assisted them in different 
ways, perhaps in preparing the simple meals and looking 
after other matters, so that Barnabas and Saul might give 



236 

themselves unhindered to the preaching of the Word. No 
record is given of the result of the testimony in Salamis. 
Nor is there anything said of their labors throughout the 
island. The Holy Spirit in giving us the narrative did not re- 
port their activity in detail, because He wanted the event in 
Paphos to take the prominent and first place in this first 
journey of the Apostle to the Gentiles. 

And a significant event it was. There they found a sor- 
cerer, a false prophet, a great instrument of Satan, ready to 
oppose the Gospel as it now was to be preached to the Gen- 
tiles. Such evil persons, the special instrument of the enemy, 
appear repeatedly in this book and always when the Gospel 
was carried in some new region. In Samaria it was Simon 
Magus, in Macedonia the damsel with the familiar spirit, 
and here it is the sorcerer, Bar-jesus. He was a Jew and his 
name means "Son -of Jesus." The Cyprian name he carried 
was Elymas, which is not Greek and may mean "The Wise." 
Paphos was a wicked city of a very bad reputation; Aphro- 
dite, the goddess Venus, was worshipped in a magnificent 
temple. It was a stronghold of Satan and he had his man 
there to oppose the messengers of God sent forth by the Holy 
Spirit. This false prophet with his significant name, a Jew, 
yet practicing the evil things of Oriental occultism, was in 
close connection with Sergius Paulus,the deputy of that coun- 
try. He was most likely attached to the household of the 
deputy. Sergius Paulus was a searcher for the truth, for 
he called for the two Apostles to hear the Word of God from 
their lips. Then the Satanic opposition from the side of 
Elymas was brought out. It was an important moment, for 
it was the first time that the doctrine of Christ was presented 
to the Roman world. Satan through Elymas withstood the 
Apostles in their testimony and sought to keep Sergius Paulus 
from the faith. Then Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, set 
his eyes on him. Just in the moment when Satan's power 
came into play the Holy Spirit filled the messenger to over- 



237 



come the wicked devices of the false prophet and pronounce 
judgment upon him. As in the case of Simon Magus, so here 
the Holy Spirit uncovers the true character of the impostor. 
He is a child of the devil and not a "Bar-Jesus," a son of 
Jesus, the Saviour. He claimed to be a prophet, in reality 
he was an enemy of all righteousness. He had perverted 
the right ways of the Lord and continued in this evil work. 
Then divine judgment is pronounced upon Elymas. "Thou 
shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season." The judg- 
ment was executed at once. A mist and darkness fell on 
him and he went about seeking some one to lead him by the 
hand. Sergius Paulus then believed, being astonished at 
the doctrine of the Lord. There can be no question but 
Sergius Paulus was truly converted. If it be said that he was 
astonished at the sudden judgment, a doubt might be raised, 
but he was astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Signs are 
for the Jews, but the Gentile needs no sign. 

This false prophet, the Jew Bar-jesus, Elymas the sor- 
cerer, is a type of apostate Judaism, which has turned away 
from the truth, rejected the Gospel and perverts the right 
ways of the Lord. Such Judaism became after rejecting the 
offer of God's mercy. 

As Elymas tried to keep the Word of God from the Roman 
Sergius Paulus, so the Jews tried to keep from the Gentiles 
the Gospel, which they themselves had rejected. The judg- 
ment which fell upon the sorcerer is likewise significant. 
Blindness has been put judicially upon the Jews and without 
a leader they are groping around in the darkness. This 
judicial blindness was repeatedly predicted by the prophets. 
We find it mentioned in Isaiah vi:9-10. Their eyes were to 
be shut. Our Lord quotes this twice and each time in con- 
nection with His rejection in Matthew xiii:15 and John xii: 
40. Then the Apostle Paul uses these words for the last time 
in the New Testament. See Acts xxiii: 25-28. The Salva- 
tion of God was sent to the Gentiles after the Jews refused to 



m 

accept it, and the Jews were blinded. But the blindness is 
not permanent. "Blindness in part has happened to Israel 
until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans xi:25). 
Corresponding to this is the blindness of Elymas, which was 
to be "for a season." The season is this present age. When 
this age is over, the judicial blindness, the veil which is upon 
their hearts, will be removed. 

That this incident is the first one reported in the beginning 
of the great missionary movement is in full keeping with the 
scope of the Book of Acts. Of equal significance is it that for 
the first time, and that in connection with this incident, the 
name of Paul is mentioned. Some havesuggested that he took 
the name in honor of Sergius Paulus, but that is incorrect. 
' Paul is a Roman name, and means "little." Later he 
writes of himself as "less than the least of all saints." He 
took the lowest place and the name, which signifies this comes 
now into prominence. Barnabas is taking the second place; 
not Barnabas and Saul, but Paul and Barnabas is now the 
order. 

After the significant incident in Paphos, the judicial blind- 
ness of Elymas and the faith of the Gentile deputy in the 
doctrine of the Lord, the Apostle Paul and his company 
loosed from Paphos. "And when Paul and his company 
loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and 
John departing from them, returned to Jerusalem" (verse 13) 
Paul occupies now the prominent place. As soon as Perga 
was reached, John the helper, who had gone forth with them 
from Antioch, deserted them. It was a desertion, for later 
we find the statement that he departed from them from Pam- 
phylia, and went not with them to the work (Chap. xv:38). 
* No reason is given why John turned backward. Was it on 
account of the dangers or the hard labor? Or was it coward- 
ice? The reason of his return was most likely of a different 
nature. He was still greatly attached to Jerusalem. His 
Hebrew name is mentioned only in this chapter and not the 



239 



Gentile, the Roman, Mark. Perhaps he could not fully en- 
dorse the complete association with the Gentiles and 
turned back to Jerusalem to be in fellowship with them who 
were of the circumcision and "zealous for the Law." No 
matter what was the motive, he did leave them. It was 
failure on his part and for a long time John Mark had evi- 
dently little or no service. He was unprofitable. Blessed is 
the information we receive from the Second Epistle to Tim- 
othy by the Apostle Paul. He requested Mark's presence in 
Rome. "Take Mark, and bring him with thee, for he is 
profitable to me for the ministry" (2 Tim. iv:ll). He had 
been restored, seen his error and judged himself. There can 
be no question, but John Mark is the writer of the Gospel 
of Mark, in which the perfect servant of God, the Lord Jesus 
Christ is portrayed in His unfailing service. What encour- 
agement we should take from this! One who failed in service 
and was graciously restored, then chosen to write the Gospel 
of the Servant. 

III. The Gospel in Galatia. Paul's address in the syn- 
agogue of Antioch. 

But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in 
Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and 
sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the 
rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and 
brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. 
(Verses 14-15.) 

They reached another Antioch. It was situated in 
Pisidia. The region into which they now carried the Gospel 
was also known as Galatia. This district was settled 
by Gauls, Celtic invaders, who had left about 278 B. C. 
Sou thern Europe, and took possession of parts of Asia Minor. 
In 189 B.C., they were subdued by Rome and the Kingdom 
of Galatia was formed, which comprised besides Galatia 



240 



proper a number of other provinces, including Pisidia. 
From the Epistle to the Galatians we know that the Apostle 
Paul preached the Gospel there and founded the different 
churches. The record of his visit and work is contained in 
the xiii and xiv chapter, beginning with Antioch in Pisidia. 
Antioch had, like other cities at that time, a number of Jews, 
and therefore a synagogue. To this place they went on the 
Sabbath, and took their place among the other attendants. 
The order of service as carried on in orthodox synagogues 
of today is about the same as in the synagogues of the first 
century. The "Hear Israel!" the so-called "Shema" (a 
recitation of Deut. vi:4-9), prayers and the reading of a 
prescribed portion of the Pentateuch, and a similar portion 
from the Prophets, called the "Haftorah." After the read- 
ing of those portions, exhortation was in order. It was at 
this point that the rulers requested the visiting brethren, of 
whom they may have heard as teachers, to speak if they had 
any word of exhortation. The rulers addressed them as 
Brethren. Gentiles who feared God had likewise access to 
the synagogue and a number were present on that Sabbath 
day. 

Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of 
Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this peo- 
ple of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they 
dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm 
brought he them out of it. And about the time of forty years 
suffered he their manners in the wilderness. And when he had 
destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their 
land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges 
about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the 
prophet. And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto 
them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by 
the space of forty years. And when he had removed him, he 
raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave 
testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man 
after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. Of this man's 
seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a 



241 



Saviour, Jesus: When John had first preached before his coming 
the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John 
fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not 
he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his 
feet I am not worthy to loose. Men and brethren, children of the 
stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you 
is this word of salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and 
their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the 
prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them 
in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, 
yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had 
fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the 
tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the 
dead: And he was seen many days of them which came up with 
him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the 
people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the prom- 
ise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same 
unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is 
also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have 
I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the 
dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, 
I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith 
also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see 
corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation 
by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and 
saw corruption: But he, whom God raised again, saw no corrup- 
tion. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that 
through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 
And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from 
which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware there- 
fore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; 
behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work 
in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a 
man declare it unto you. (Verses 16-41.) 

We have before us an intensely interesting record. Whether 
this is a full report or a condensed report of the address of the 
Apostle we do not know for certain. We incline to the belief 
that it is a report in full of what Paul spoke. It corresponds 
in different ways to Peter's preaching to the Jews, yet it 
differs from Peter's message in regard to the Gospel. As 



242 



we have seen Peter's preaching was addressed to the Jews 
and he offered forgiveness of sins to them who re- 
pent and are baptized. But Paul utters a truth for 
the first time, which Peter did not declare. He said: 
"By Him all that believe are justified from all things, from 
which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." It is 
justification by faith he now preaches. We have in his first 
recorded utterance the Keynote of the two great Epistles, 
dictated by the Holy Spirit to the Apostle Paul; the great 
doctrinal Epistle to the Romans and the controversial Epis- 
tle to the Galatians, the defence of his Gospel. The discourse 
of the Apostle contains three parts, i. A historical retro- 
spect, which forms the introduction of his address. Verses 
17-25. ii. The proclamation of the Gospel of the Son of 
God. Verses 26-40. iii. The solemn warning. Verses 40-41. 

He addressed the Jews present as Israel, the covenant 
Name, and the assembled Gentiles "ye that fear God." 
He traces rapidly the history of the people Israel, the back- 
ground of the Gospel he is to preach. God had chosen their 
fathers, exalted the people, delivered them out of Egypt, He 
carried them through the wilderness and suffered* their man- 
ners. He furthermore destroyed their enemies and gave them 
an inheritance. In Exodus iv:22 it is written, "Israel is 
my son, my firstborn" and in Hosea xi:l we read: "When 
Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of 
Egypt." It is this history of Israel as the firstborn son the 
Apostle sketches rapidly. In the promised land they had 
judges, a prophet and a King. While he mentions Saul, the 
Son of Cis, reminding them of the failure involved in his case, 
he speaks more fully of David as the one whom God raised 
up, in whom He was pleased, who was to fulfill all His will. 
At once he mentions Him, who according to the flesh is the 
seed of David (Romans i:3). The connection with David 



*A better rendering is "He nursed them." 



243 



is obvious. The three facts mentioned by Paul concerning 
David find their fulfillment in the promised Saviour, the Son 
of David. He was raised up by God (verses 23, 30, 33 and 
34); God gave him testimony "this is my beloved Son, in 
whom I am well pleased," and He alone could "fulfill all His 
will." So Paul speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ as the promised 
One, raised up unto Israel as a Saviour. The preaching of 
John before this Saviour came, calling all the people of Israel 
unto repentance is the concluding paragraph of the first part 
of the Apostle's address. 

In the second part of his address he preached the Gospel 
unto them. He addressed the assembled congregation as 
men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham; the 
Gentiles present he -also mentioned "whosoever among you 
feareth God." Then without further delay he uttered the 
fact of the Gospel, "to you is the word of this salvation sent." 
One is reminded of the Lord Himself, when in the synagogue 
of Nazareth He said: "Today is this Scripture fulfilled in 
your ears." How eagerly the gathered company must have 
listened to what was about to be announced. The cross of 
Christ, the death of the promised Saviour and the circum- 
stances of His death are immediately proclaimed. There is no 
salvation apart from the cross of Christ. The word of this 
salvation he preached unto them centers not in the earthly 
life of the Lord Jesus Christ, but in His death on the cross. 
Like Peter,the Apostle to the Gentiles emphasizes the fact that 
they that dwelt at Jerusalem and their rulers knew Him not. 
The reason of their ignorance was because they knew not the 
voices of the prophets. Ignorance of the written Word led 
to the rejection of the living Word. It is still so today in 
Judaism and Christendom. They read every Sabbath the 
prophecies concerning the Messiah, His rejection and His 
work, and they fulfilled these predictions in condemning 
Him. His death on the cross was therefore a fulfillment of 
Scripture. No cause of death was found in Him. He was 



244 



delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. All was fulfilled 
by them, which was written of Him; all the sufferings of 
Christ as the Lamb of God were accomplished on the tree.* 
He was taken down and laid in a sepulchre. His death on 
the cross was thus briefly pictured by the speaker. And 
then he announced next to the fact of His death, fully proven 
by His burial in a sepulchre, that God raised Him from the 
dead. It is the order Paul follows here which he later writes 
to the Corinthians. "For I delivered unto you first of all 
that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, 
according to Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that 
He rose again the third day according to Scriptures" (1 Cor. 
xv:3^r). The proofs of resurrection that He was seen many 
days are also briefly mentioned. Then he declared the good 
tidings. As an evangelist he announces what had been 
accomplished in the death and resurrection of Christ. It is 
a beautiful and concise statement of Him, who had been raised 
up in incarnation, and who is by resurrection from the dead 
the Son of God. The promise made unto the fathers had 
been gloriously fulfilled. The Second Psalm had predicted 
this raising up. God sent His Son into the world. On a cer- 
tain day He entered as the Begotten One into the world. 
After He had died He became the First Begotten from the 
dead, destined as such to be the King upon the holy hill of 
Zion, and to receive the nations for His inheritance. He could 
not see corruption. This, too, had been predicted in the 
Psalms (Psalm xvi). The similarity of this first reported 
evangelistic message of Paul with Peter's is again seen at 
this point. But he also speaks of Him as the Pious One, the 
Holy and Gracious One, in whom now are found the faithful 
mercies of David. 

*Peter used the word "tree" and Paul writing to the Galatians 
said: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made 
a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is every one that hangeth 'on 
a tree.' " (Gal. iii:13.) 



245 



And then he pressed it all home to their hearts and con- 
sciences. 

"Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that 
through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of 
sins. And by Him all that believe are justified from all 
things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of 
Moses." This is the great climax reached. He did not once 
mention the word repentance. He has nothing to say of 
baptism. He did not exhort them to do the best they could 
or to live under that law, which they had. The Law of 
Moses could not justify them. The Epistle to the Galatians, 
most likely read by those in Antioch who heard Paul speak, 
enlarges upon this fully. Justification from all things is 
offered now by faith in Jesus Christ. All that believe are 
justified of all things is the blessed message of the Gospel 
of Grace which Paul preached and which is not after man, 
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. i:ll-12). 

How simple the message was. All had been done by 
Christ. He died the Just One for the Unjust; He who 
knew no sin had been made sin. Forgiveness of sins and 
a perfect justification from all things is now ready for Jews 
and Gentiles from the side of a just God, who can be right- 
eously the Justifier of him, who believeth in Jesus. And 
this simple Gospel, this perfect way of salvation is still to 
be preached. It is the power of God unto salvation; what 
a model for the true Gospel address Paul's discourse in the 
synagogue of the Pisidian Antioch is! Then in the third 
part, in the concluding words, he gives a solemn warning. 
This must likewise be attached to every true Gospel testi- 
mony. The warning is taken from the Prophet Habakkuk 
(i:5). It is addressed by the Prophet to "those among the 
Gentiles." The passage warns against unbelief. The mes- 
sage may be accepted or rejected. The work which God 
worked in Habakkuk's day was judgment by the Chaldean 
invasion. It came upon them that believed not. Judgment 



246 



would surely come upon them if they believed not and re- 
jected the offer of the Gospel. A few years later Paul wrote 
to the Thessalonians concerning the Jews, "Forbidding us 
to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up 
their sins always; for the wrath is come upon them to the 
uttermost." The destruction of Jerusalem and the disper- 
sion of the nation was the punitive work God worked for 
those who believed not. Well does every Gospel preacher if 
he gives the solemn warning that "He that believeth not the 
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." 
There is a judgment work coming for all that believe not — 
"when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His 
mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that 
know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ." 

IV. The Gospel rejected by the Jews; they turn to the 
Gentiles. 

And when the Jews were gone* out of the synagogue, the Gen- 
tiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next 
Sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of 
the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: 
who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace 
of God. And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city to- 
gether to hear the word of God. But the Jews saw the multitudes, 
they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which 
were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul 
and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word 
of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it 
from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, 
we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, 
saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou should- 
est be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the 
Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the 
Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And 



^Correct Reading: "And as they went out they begged that thes 
words might be spoken to them the next Sabbath.'- 



247 



the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. 
But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women, and the 
chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Bar- 
nabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off 
the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. And 
the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost. (Verses 
42-52.) 

The offer had been made. Were the Jews in the dispersion 
to accept it or to oppose the Gospel and reject its gracious 
invitation? It seems as if a deep impression was created. 
How else could it have been after hearing such a perfect 
and able presentation in the power of the Holy Spirit. The 
request was made that they would speak again a week later. 
Many Jews and proselytes followed the two messengers. 
The exhortation of the Apostles that they should continue 
in the grace of God seems to imply that some had accepted 
the offer of the Gospel. 

But during the week the enemy did his work. The whole 
city came together the next Sabbath. Large numbers of 
Gentiles, many of whom had never before entered the syn- 
agogue, crowded in to hear the Word. This was too much for 
the Jews. Jealousy and envy filled their hearts. It came 
to a riotous opposition. Paul was again the preacher, and not 
alone did they speak against the truth as preached by him, 
but they contradicted and blasphemed. What Elymas, the 
sorcerer, had done as an individual, the type of the blinded 
Jew, the Jews did in Antioch. Once more Paul with Bar- 
nabas pronounces the word of condemnation. The offer of 
salvation was refused and now the Jews, judging themselves 
unworthy of eternal life by unbelief, the Apostles said, "we 
turn to the Gentiles." Scripture is fully on their side in this 
action, for the prophet had declared, "I have set thee to be 
a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldst be for salvation 
unto the ends of the earth." While the Jews blasphemed and 
rejected, the Gentiles were glad and glorified the Word of the 
Lord. As many as were ordained to eternal life believed. 



248 



"The Jews had judged themselves unworthy of eternal life; 
the Gentiles, as many as were disposed to eternal life, believed. 
By whom so disposed, is not here declared; nor need the 
word be in this place further particularized. We know that 
it is God who worketh in us the will to believe, and that the 
preparation of the heart is of Him, but to find in this text 
preordination to life asserted, is to force both the word and 
the context to a meaning which they do not contain."* 
All who accept the Gospel by faith are ordained unto eternal 
life. The good news spread rapidly throughout all Galatia. 
All this brought out still more fully the jealousy and fierce 
antagonism of the unbelieving Jews. They used certain 
women of the higher classes, no doubt the wives of the rulers 
of the city. These women were devout; they went to the 
synagogue. Through these women and the chief men of the 
city a successful persecution of the Apostles was raised and 
they had to suffer. Nothing is mentioned of suffering here, 
but Paul mentions it to Timothy (See 2 Tim. iii: 11). They 
were expelled from that region. 

The banished Apostles must have known the Word of the 
Lord about persecutions and shaking the dust off their feet 
(Matt, x: 14). They did this and passed on to Iconium. 
The disciples they left behind were filled with joy and with 
the Holy Ghost. 



*Dean Alford, Greek New Testament. 



249 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The concluding ministry of the first missionary journey 
of the apostles, their sufferings and testimony, as well as 
their dangers and return to Antioch, are the events recorded 
in this chapter. 

I. The work in Iconium and the persecution of the 
Apostles (Verses 1-6). 

II. Their testimony in Derbe and Lystra, the healing of 
the impotent man and what followed (Verses 7-18). 

III. The stoning of Paul and further ministries (Verses 
19-24). 

IV. The Return to Antioch (Verses 25-28). 

I. The work in Iconium and the persecution of the 
Apostles. 

And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together 
into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude 
both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. But the unbe- 
lieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil af- 
fected against the brethren. Long time therefore abode they speak- 
ing boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his 
grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 
But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the 
Jews, and part with the apostles. And when there was an assault 
made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, 
to use them despitefully, and to stone them, they were aware of it, 
and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the 
region that lieth round about. (Verses 1-6). 

Iconium was a Phrygian town, bordering on Lycaonia. 
Later it became a very influential city, the capital of Lyca- 
onia proper and a center of Christianity in that region. It 
is also known through an apocryphal book, "The. Acts of 



250 



Paul and Thecla." The heroine, Thecla, is said to have lived 
in Iconium and that she was converted by the preaching of 
Paul.* Once more the Apostles sought out the synagogue to 
preach the Gospel there. Jews and Greeks were present to 
listen to their testimony. It is a far-fetched theory, which 
claims that they preached nothing but the kingdom in the 
different synagogues. The preaching of the Apostles is not 
reported here, but we may take it for granted that the clear 
and simple Gospel testimony delivered by the Apostle Paul 
in the synagogue of Antioch was repeated in Iconium. The 
message was wonderfully blessed and owned of God. They 
spake so that not only a few, but a great multitude of Jews 
and Greeks believed. But the acts of the enemy followed at 
once. He could not permit such a powerful and successful 
testimony to go on unhindered. Once more the Elymas 
character of the unbelieving Jews is brought out. They 
stirred up the Gentiles, those who had no sympathy with the 
synagogue, and made their minds evil affected against the 
brethren. 

But the messengers of the Lord could not be driven from 
the scene before their testimony was finished. How long 
they remained is not stated. It was a "long time" they abode 
there, and with much boldness they spoke the Word of God. 
And the Lord added His seal to the faithful testimony of 
His servants. Signs and wonders were done by their hands. 
By these God demonstrated once more to the unbelieving 
Jews in the dispersion that Jesus is the Christ. The entire 
city seems to have been divided. When it came to actual 
persecutions, and both the unbelieving Jews and unbelieving 
Gentiles made ready to stone them, and the plot became 
known, they left Iconium and fled to Lystra and Derbe. -No 

*The whole story is an invention. Tertullian has shown that it is 
a fictitious story written by a certain Presbyter, who was a great ad- 
mirer of the Apostle Paul. The Presbyter was disciplined for his 
writing. 



251 



doubt this was the will of the Lord and they followed His 
guidance. That it was not cowardice or self-protection is 
seen by the fact that a short time after they returned unto 
Iconium (Verse 21). 

II. Their testimony in Derbe and Lystra, the healing of 
the impotent man and what followed. 

And there they preached the gospel. And there sat a certain man 
at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's 
womb, who had never walked. The same heard Paul speak: who 
steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be 
healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he 
leaped and walked. And when the people saw what Paul had done, 
they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The 
gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called 
Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief 
speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, 
brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sac- 
rifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and 
Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, 
crying out and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We are also 
men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should 
turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, 
and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in 
times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Never- 
theless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and 
gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts 
with food and gladness. And with these sayings scarce restrained 
they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them. 
(Verses 7-18.) 

The two cities Lystra and Derbe were in Lycaonia proper. 
The people inhabiting these places were called Barbarians; 
they heard the Gospel next. No synagogue was located in 
Lystra, for there were not enough Jews there to form one. 
However, we know that a pious Jewess had her residence in 
Lystra. Her name was Eunice. She had been married to a 
Greek, who had died. Her son was Timotheus, and she lived 



252 

with her mother, Lois. From Acts xvi:l-3 we learn that 
Eunice had believed. The mother was also a believer (2 
Tim. i:5). Eunice taught her son the Scriptures. We do 
not know from the report in our chapter that Paul then came 
in touch with her, but we fully believe this must have been 
the case and that the apostles perhaps lodged in her house. 

And now another lame man is healed by the power of 
God. He had been crippled from his mother's womb and 
had never walked. He heard the Word/ Faith came to his 
heart by hearing, and the Apostle Paul, beholding him, per- 
ceived that he had faith to be healed. Then Paul spoke the 
word and the Lord answered by healing the lame man so 
that he leaped and walked. The miracle created a great stir 
among the people, and they cried out in their own language, 
"the gods are come to us in the likeness of men." The myth- 
ological superstitions took hold of them, and they imagined 
that the two apostles, Barnabas and Paul, were some of 
their gods who had taken on human form. In Barnabas 
they imagined to see Jupiter and in Paul, who did the most 
talking, Mercurius. But the two apostles did not know 
what all the commotion meant, for they did not understand 
the Lycaonian language.* The temple of Jupiter or Zeus, as 
this god is called in the Greek language, was outside of the 
city. From there the priests brought 'oxen with garlands, 
ready to bring sacrifices to the newly-discovered gods. It 
was then that the apostles heard of it, and rending their 
clothes, ran among the people to stop their foolish endeavors. 
These servants of the Lord Jesus Christ did not want honors 
from men, as if they were some great ones. The people tried 
to idolize them, but they abhorred these wicked proceedings. 

*They did not possess therefore the miraculous gift of languages 
and understood not what was said. This answers the statements 
made by those who believe in the restoration of the "gift of tongues," 
that speaking in tongues is the evidence of the baptism with the Holy- 
Spirit. 



253 



The enemy lurked behind this, no doubt, but the grace of 
God gave to the apostles the power to act as they did. How 
much of such idolizing is going on in modern days; how men, 
professedly the servants of the Lord, seek and love the 
honor and praise of men, is too evident to be mentioned. 
Seeking honor from men and having delight in the applause 
of the "religious world" is a deadly thing, for it dishonors 
Christ, to whom all honor and glory is due. And how much 
of all this there is in the present day! It is but the result of 
not giving the Lord Jesus Christ the pre-eminence. 

Powerful were the words which the two men of God 
addressed to the poor Pagans. They did not preach what 
they were not capable of understanding. They came right 
down to their level. They showed them the wickedness of 
idolatry which puts the creature into the place of the Cre- 
ator. The message was suited to them and to their needs 
and paved the way for the Gospel testimony. "We are also 
men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye 
should turn from these vanities unto the living God, who 
made heaven and earth, and the sea and all things that are 
therein."* Yet even with these burning words they were 
almost unable to restrain the people from carrying out their 
purpose. 

*"What is notaole, I think, especially for all those engaged in the 
work of the Lord, is the variety in the character of the apostolic ad- 
dresses. There was no such stiffness as we are apt to find in our day 
in the preaching of the gospel. Oh, what monotony! what sameness 
of routine, no matter who may be addressed! We find in Scripture 
people dealt with as they were, and there is that kind of an appeal to 
the conscience which was adapted to their peculiar state. The dis- 
course in the synagogue was founded on the Jewish scriptures, here to 
these men of Lycaonia there is no allusion to the Old Testament what- 
ever, but a plain reference to what all see and know — the heavens 
above them and the seasons that God was pleased from old to assign 
round about them, and that continual supply of the fruits of His natural 
bounty of which the most callous can scarce be insensible." — W. Kelly. 



III. The stoning of Paul and further ministries. 

And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, 
who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out 
of the city, supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, as the disciples 
stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the 
next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had 
preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they re- 
turned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming 
the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the 
faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the 
kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders 
in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended 
them to the Lord, on whom they believed. And after they had 
passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. (Verses 
19-24.) 

Jews from Antioch and Iconium suddenly appeared in 
Lystra. Not satisfied to make opposition to the apostles 
and to stir up strife in their own cities, they followed after 
these men. Word must have reached them of their success 
in Lystra. They came to stir up the Lycaonians. What 
evil things they said against the two servants of God may 
well be imagined. They persuaded the people that they were 
not gods; they must have branded them as deceivers and 
worse. The mass of people who were ready to worship 
Barnabas and Paul changed quickly and stoned Paul. Most 
likely the fury turned against him because he had been 
instrumental in healing the crippled man. As the stones 
fell upon him, must he not have remembered Stephen? 
And may he not have prayed as Stephen did? And after 
they thought him dead, they dragged his body out of the 
city. But the Lord, who had announced such suffering for 
him, had watched over his servant. He was in His own hands, 
as every child of God is in Llis care. The enemy who stood 
behind the furious mob, as he stood behind the attempt to 
sacrifice unto them, would have killed Paul. But he could 
not touch Paul's life, as he was not permitted to touch the 
life of another servant of God, Job (Job ii: 6). The Lord's 



255 



Omnipotent hand shielded Paul, and when the disciples 
stood round about the apparent dead body, he arose and came" 
into the city. This sudden recovery was supernatural. He 
refers in 2 Cor. xi: 25 to this Stoning, "Once I was stoned." 
Another reference to Lystra we find in his second Epistle to 
Timothy: "Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at 
Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; 
but out of them all the Lord delivered me" (2 Tim. iii: 11). 
Blessed be His name, He is the same Lord still and will 
deliver them that trust in Him. 

The next day finds Paul and Barnabas at Derbe, a small 
town, some thirty miles from Lystra. Here he preached the 
Gospel to the entire city and taught many. In chapter xx:4 
we have Gaius of Derbe mentioned, who in all probability 
was a fruit of the apostles' testimony in that city. From 
Derbe they returned to Lystra without fear, and also revis- 
ited Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia. The divine purpose in 
this was to confirm, to establish the disciples. They had to 
suffer persecution in these places, and so the apostles exhorted 
them to continue in the faith and assured them: "that we 
must, through much tribulation, enter into the Kingdom of 
God." The Kingdom of God, however, must not be con- 
founded with the kingdom of heaven, which is another term 
and has another meaning. That they retraced their steps and 
looked after those who had believed to help them on in the 
truth and strengthen their faith, is of much importance. 
Modern evangelism, aiming at big things and large crowds, 
has lost sight of this. We find in our days but few evangelists 
who return to the same places to help those who believed and 
to establish their souls. Besides this the two apostles looked 
to the proper order for the assemblies. The statement, how- 
ever, is not that "they ordained them elders in every church" 
but "they chose them elders." It was not done when the 
apostles had first labored in these places, for time was neces- 
sary to show who was gifted and qualified for the office of an 



256 



elder. It is true the apostles looked after this personally, 
and later Paul commissioned Titus and Timotheus to appoint 
elders. But the Holy Spirit also has given in the Epistles, 
for the church throughout the age, the marks of true New 
Testament eldership. It is the Holy Spirit who calls and fits 
elders for their work in the assembly, and the assembly, hav- 
ing the Scriptures to show the fitness for the office, must 
recognize such. Confusion, division and disorder in many 
assemblies are often the result of having ignored this fact. 
Those who are gifted for oversight must exercise this gift. 

After they had accomplished this important and needful 
work, commending them also in prayer to the Lord, they 
passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 

IV. The Return to Antioch. 

And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down 
into Attalia: And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had 
been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they 
fulfilled. And when they were come, and had gathered the church 
together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how 
he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. And there thev 
abode long time with the disciples. (Verses 25-28.) 

No report is given of the result of the preaching at Perga. 
From there they went to the seaport Attalia, and then 
they returned to the starting point, Antioch, from where 
they had been called to do the work, and which they had, 
through the grace of God, fulfilled. They had been gone for 
about eighteen months. The church in Antioch was gath- 
ered together to hear the wonderful story of God's grace and 
power. What a blessed time they must have had together 
when Paul and Barnabas related what God had done! What 
praise and joyful exclamations must have welled forth from 
the hearts and lips of God's people as they listened how the 
Lord had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles! And 
there Paul and Barnabas abode in blessed fellowship v/ith 
the disciples. 



257 



CHAPTER XV. 

A very critical time had now arrived for the church. An 
important question had to be settled. That Gentiles can be 
saved and salvation must be extended to the Gentiles had 
been fully demonstrated. The Apostle of the circumcision, 
Peter, had been used to preach the Gospel to a company of 
God-fearing Gentiles. Evangelists had gone to Antioch and 
the great Gentile center had there been founded. Paul and 
Barnabas had completed their great missionary journey and 
numerous assemblies of Gentiles, saved by Grace, were 
formed. The question of the salvation of Gentiles could no 
longer be raised. But we remember from the eleventh chap- 
ter of this book, that when Peter returned to Jerusalem, they 
that were of the circumcision contended with him. They 
objected to Peter going to men uncircumcised and eating 
with them. But those of the circumcision had not been fully 
satisfied with the status of the believing Gentiles. What 
about circumcision in their case? Should they not also keep 
the Law? In other words, the question of the relation of 
the believing Gentile to the Law and to circumcision had to 
be determined. 

This question was but the natural outcome of the situa- 
tion in the beginning of this age. To make this clear we 
quote from another: "Wherever the Jews went in the Gen- 
tile world, their presence gave rise to two conflicting ten- 
dencies. On the one hand, the Jew possessed the knowledge 
of the one true God; and amidst the universal corruption, 
idolatry and superstition of the ancient world this saving 
knowledge exercised a powerful attraction. The synagogues 
of the Jews became the center of a large body of seekers 
after truth, whether actually circumcised proselytes or simply 
God-fearing Gentiles. On the other hand, this knowledge 



258 

Was enshrined in a law, which imposed upon the Jews' a nUrii- 
ber of distinctive customs and observances and these sep- 
arated them from the rest of mankind and made a real 
coalescence impossible. Four characteristics in particular 
struck the Gentiles, the absence of all images or emblems of 
the deity in Jewish worship, the observance of the Sabbath, 
abstinence from unclean meat and especially swine's flesh, 
and circumcision. This last was sufficient in itself to pre- 
vent the world from adopting Judaism. But the law of un- 
cleanness caused the Jew on his side to look upon the Gen- 
tiles with contempt, as unclean, and put an effectual bar on 
any real fellowship. The Gentiles in their turn readily paid 
back Jewish exclusiveness with an ample interest of ridicule 
and hatred. This double relation to the Gentiles divided 
the Jews themselves into two schools. On the one side were 
those who with some consciousness of the brotherhood of 
common humanity were striving to remove barriers and to 
present the Jewish faith to the world in its most spiritual 
and philosophic aspect. Such were the Hellenists of Alex- 
andria. On the other side, the salvation of the Gentiles was 
inconceivable to the genuine Hebrew, and this was the atti- 
tude of mind which prevailed in Judea. There the Hebrews 
were growing more and more rigid; instead of lowering, they 
were raising the fence around the law and trying to make 
the barrier between Jew and Gentile absolutely impas- 
sable."* 

From this situation it is easily seen what an important 
question it was which had to be faced. We must likewise 
remember that the great controversial Epistle, the divinely- 
inspired defence of the Gospel of the Apostle Paul, the Epis- 
tle to the Galatians, was then not written. We shall have to 
turn to this Epistle in connection with the chapter before us. 
The interesting account has five parts: 



*R. B. Rackham. 



259 



I. The false teachers from Judea; Paul and Barnabas 
sent to Jerusalem (Verses 1-5). 

II. The Council in Jerusalem (Verses 6-21). 

III. The result made known (Verses 22-29). 

IV. The Consolation brought to Antioch (Verses 30-35).] 

V. Paul and Barnabas separate (Verses 36-41). 

I. The false teachers from Judea; Paul and Barnabas 
sent to Jerusalem. 

And certain men which came down from Judea taught the breth- 
ren, and said, Except ye be circumcised, after the manner of Moses, 
ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no 
small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that 
Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to 
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. And 
being brought on their way by the church, they passed through 
Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and 
they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were 
come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the 
apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done 
with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees 
which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and 
to command them to keep the law of Moses. (Verses 1-5.) 

It was a happy scene in Antioch with which the previous 
chapter closed. But the enemy never leaves God's people 
undisturbed in their happiness and peace. The disturbing 
element were certain men, who came from Judea. Their 
names are not made public, but they were the instruments 
of Satan. From verse 24 in this chapter it is evident they 
came from Jerusalem and perhaps some of the Judaizing 
leaders sent them on this errand. What a message it was 
they brought! "Except ye be circumcised after the manner 
of Moses ye cannot be saved." Here were large numbers 
of Gentiles who had accepted the Gospel and having believed 
were saved. Furthermore, they had the gifts in their midst, 
apostles, evangelists and teachers. The Holy Spirit had 



260 



manifested His blessed power again and again in the grow- 
ing assembly. And now, after all these gracious blessings 
and enjoyment of salvation, these men appear from Judea 
and taught them — "except ye be circumcised after the man- 
ner of Moses ye cannot be saved." No doubt they cited the 
fact of the believing Jews in Judea and Jerusalem and that 
circumcision was a divine institution. They came as teach- 
ers professing authority. How great .must have been 
the consternation among these Gentile believers when they 
heard this message! But Paul and Barnabas detected the 
subtle work of the enemy. No small dissension and strife 
arose, with many questionings. Paul then must have 
already thundered forth his great word in Galatians: "If 
any man preach another Gospel unto you than that which 
ye have received, let him be accursed." The Gospel he 
preached had nothing to do with the law nor with circum- 
cision. But the question had been introduced and brought 
discussion into the Antiochian Church; it had to be settled. 

It was determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain 
other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the Apostles 
and elders about this question. The second chapter in 
Galatians must here be considered for it gives additional 
information on this visit to Jerusalem. "Then fourteen 
years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas 
and Titus with me also. And I went, up by revelation" 
(Gal. ii: 1-2). From this we learn it was fourteen years 
after his previous visit to the city of his fathers, that Titus 
accompanied him, and that he had a revelation from the 
Lord about this visit to Jerusalem. Perhaps Paul was 
reluctant to proceed to Jerusalem. His Gospel was not 
received from nor linked with Jerusalem. Why should 
he go to Jerusalem in defence of that Gospel? But 
he tells us in the second chapter of Galatians that 
his journey to Jerusalem was by revelation. This may 
have been by some strong intimation given by the 



261 



Holy Spirit or by a direct word from the Lord Himself. 
And Titus, whom he took along was a Greek, a pure Gen- 
tile, and as such uncircumcised. The reason must have been 
to present in Titus a specimen of what the Grace of God and 
the gifts of the Holy Spirit can do for a Gentile. 

The whole assembly had sympathy with the journey. 
They brought the delegation on their way. The travel to 
Jerusalem was not in idleness. In Phenice and Samaria 
they declared everywhere the conversion of the Gentiles, 
most likely a rehearsal of what God had done on their great 
missionary journey. Everywhere the brethren rejoiced. 
From this it is clearly seen that the great majority of the 
Christians in Phenice and Samaria were in full sympathy 
with that Gospel which Paul preached, and opposed to the 
Judaizing teachers. 

When they reached Jerusalem the Church received the 
delegates. Apostles and elders besides the other members 
of the church were present. In their presence they told out 
once more what it had pleased God to do through them. In 
Galatians, Paul writes, "And I communicated unto them 
that Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately 
to them which were of reputation lest by any means I should 
run or had run in vain" (Gal. ii:2). This is not in contradic- 
tion with the historical account in this chapter. He gave 
an explanation of that Gospel he had received by revelation 
to the Apostles and Elders privately. But in the Church gath- 
ing they simply spoke of the fact how the Lord had guided 
them and opened such a wide door among the Gentiles and 
how many of them had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
A protest from the side of the Judaizing Pharisees was at 
once raised. These may have been the teachers who went to 
Antioch, and who most likely followed the deputation from 
Antioch to Jerusalem. They demanded that it was needful 
to circumcise them (the Gentiles) and to command them to 
keep the law of Moses. What happened immediately after 



this interruption is learned from Paul's own account in 
Galatians. Titus must have been present and the Pharisees 
objected to him as an uncircumcised Gentile. But Paul in 
the contention opposed them, and that successfully. "But 
neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was com- 
pelled to be circumcised" (Gal. ii: 3). Paul calls these Juda- 
izing teachers "false brethren" and speaks of his opposition 
he made to them. "And that because of false brethren 
unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our 
liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring 
us into bondage; to whom we gave place by subjection, no, 
not for an hour, that the truth of the Gospel might continue 
with you" (Gal. ii: 4-5). This was followed by a council in 
which the important question of Salvation without the law 
was to be considered. 



II. The Council in Jerusalem. 

And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this 
matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, 
and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good 
while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my 
mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, 
which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy 
Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and 
them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye 
God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our 
fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the 
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. 
Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas 
and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought 
among the Gentiles by them. And after they had held their peace, 
James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 
Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to 
take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words 
of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will 
build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I 
will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up; That the 
residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, 



263 



upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these 
things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of 
the world. Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, 
which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we 
write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and 
from fornification, and /row things strangled, and from blood. For 
Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being 
read in the synagogues every Sabbath day. (Verses 6-21.) 

That which is written in Galatians ii: 6—10 took place in 
the private conference which Paul and Barnabas had with 
the Apostles and not in the council as reported here. James, 
Cephas and John, the three pillars of the Church in Jerusa- 
lem, then gave to Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fel- 
lowship. The larger council followed afterward. This first 
reported church council is a most interesting event. How 
different from the Church councils of the present time, with 
their political trickeries and machinery, their unscriptural 
division of God's people into clergy and laity, the making 
of laws and rules and their voting by ballot! 

The Apostles and Elders were present, but also the multi- 
tude (verse 12). There was perfect liberty in disputation. 
It has not pleased the Holy Spirit to give us an account of 
the debate which was carried on. Peter rose up and deliv- 
ered the first address to the council. This is the last time 
his name appears in the Book of Acts. As the Apostle of 
the circumcision, and used first to give the Gospel to the Gen- 
tiles, he was the right person to be heard. To this fact he 
refers at once. The Holy Spirit had been given to the Gen- 
tiles as He had been bestowed upon the believing Jews. 
After these well-known facts were stated before the multi- 
tude, Peter speaks of the law as a yoke which neither the 
fathers nor they were able to bear. "But we believe that 
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be 
saved, even as they." He declares that to force the Gen- 
tiles to submit to circumcision and to keep the law of Moses 
is nothing less than to tempt God. Peter, the acknowledged 



264 



Apostle of the circumcision, is used by the Holy Spirit to 
show the error of the demand of the Judaizing teachers. 
Gentiles had heard the Gospel, believed the Gospel, and 
upon that God gave them His greatest gift, next to the 
unspeakable gift, the Holy Spirit. The law was a yoke for 
them and their fathers and they could not bear it. As 
Jews they expected salvation, not by the keeping of the law 
nor by circumcision, but through grace. The argument was 
complete. The law and circumcision should not be put upon 
the Gentiles. The cross of Christ has made a complete 
end of the law. To go back to the law and mix law with 
that grace by which we are saved, is an evil thing. 

After Peter's address the multitude kept silence. It was 
the evidence that every heart gave full assent to what Peter 
had so tersely stated. The Judaizing element seems to have 
been completely silenced. It was the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit which brought Barnabas and Paul to their feet. They 
told once more the interesting story of their labors among 
the Gentiles and restated what miracles and wonders God 
had wrought. And after the multitude had listened to this 
additional testimony of how God in grace had visited the 
Gentiles, there was another period of silence. What a con- 
trast with the tumult and disorder one sees in modern gen- 
eral church councils, general conferences, and assemblies! In 
these councils of Christendom everybody tries to be heard 
and there is a sinful ambition for leadership, which sometimes 
does not stop short of the most abominable schemes. If we 
call this gathering in Jerusalem the first church council, 
then it did not even have a president. The president was the 
Holy Spirit; He guided and directed the affairs of this im- 
portant meeting. 

How long the silence lasted we do not know. Perhaps 
many hearts were lifted up in prayer and in praise, thanking 
God for what He had done. The voice of James broke 
the silence. Through the Spirit of God he made a most 



265 



important declaration. It has rightly been called the 
divine program. It is significant that in this first great gath- 
ering in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit lays down the exact 
plan of how God works in this present age and what will 
follow after the special purpose of God in this age is accom- 
plished. And this great truth of the dispensations, so 
necessary to understand the Word of God, is almost un- 
known today. What would Christendom be if the divine 
plan and program as uttered by James were believed? How 
different the work of the great denominational gatherings, 
if the dispensational facts so prominent in the whole Bible 
and so fully stated here, were taken into consideration! 
Worldliness, departure from the truth, and confusion have 
come in because this divine program has been forgotten 
and ignored. 

We give an analysis of the words of James. From Sim- 
eon's word spoken in their hearing, it was fully demon- 
strated that God visits the Gentiles, to take out of them a 
people for His name. This, then, is the starting point: 

I. God visits the Gentiles, to take out of them a people 
for His name. 

It is a remarkable fact that, in the quotation, James (evi- 
dently the prominent and venerable leader of the Hebraic 
party) does not use the Hebrew text, but the Septuagint, that 
is the Greek version of the Old Testament, which brings 
out the call of the Gentiles more fully. In doing so he was 
clearly led by the Holy Spirit. 

And this calling out from the Gentiles a people for His 
name is the special purpose of God in this age. Peter's 
testimony, followed by that of Barnabas and Paul, had fully 
demonstrated that God had begun this blessed work. And 
the Apostle Paul teaches later "that the Gentiles should be 
fellow-heirs, and of the same body and partakers of His 
promise in Christ by the Gospel." Now that people taken 
out, called by the Gospel, the Gentiles who are fellow-heirs, 



266 



are the church. The word "church," in the original, is ecclesia 
— which merns an outcalling. This outcalling still goes on 
and will go on till the church is completed. 

There seems to be a tendency in our days among certain 
Bible teachers to make everything as much as possible Jew- 
ish. They tell us that there is nothing about the church in 
the Gospels nor in the Book of Acts. They want us to believe 
that the seven church messages in Revelation have nothing 
to do with this present age, but that these seven churches 
will come into existence during the great tribulation. Again 
the Olivet discourse has nothing to do, so they tell us, with 
our age; it all refers to the Jews. But these fanciful teachers 
with their speculative theories, which they do not get from 
the Word of God, but bring there, have even declared that 
the word of James must be read in another light. It has 
been stated that the visitation of the Gentiles to take of 
them a people for His name, as declared by James, has no 
reference at all to this present age nor to the formation of 
the church. According to this far-fetched theory that vis- 
itation of which James spoke almost 1900 years ago will 
take place in the future. (!) It is not surprising that some 
good people who adopt such novel and strange expositions, 
if they can be called that, should become confused. The 
visitation of the Gentiles began after Israel had rejected 
God's offer. Cornelius and his house, as well as those reached 
by the evangelists (Acts xi:20), and the multitudes called 
out by the preaching of Paul and Barnabas are in view here. 
All those believing Gentiles constituted with believing Jews 
the one body, the church. This visitation of the Gentiles 
through the Gospel of Grace still goes on. What then, is 
next in the divine program? 

2. "After this / will return" In the Hebrew text of 
Amos ix: 11-12 these words are not found. Nor does James 
state that they are written in that passage, which he par- 
tially quotes from the Greek translation (Septuagint). He 



267 



said, "to this agree the words of the prophets as it is written, 
after this I will return." 

The Lord announces His return to His people in these 
words, "I will return." This return of the Lord to turn 
graciously to His people Israel is written not merely in one of 
the prophets, but in the prophets. They all announce this 
great coming event. Now, according to the statement of 
James, the Gentiles must be visited first; a people (the 
church) is to be taken out of them. After this is accom- 
plished and the full number, which constitutes the church, 
is called out, the Lord will return. It is not His coming 
for the saints, as revealed in 1 Thessalonians iv: 16-18, but 
His visible Return in power and glory, of which the prophets 
speak.* That during the endtime the Gospel of the King- 
dom will be preached among the nations (Matthew xxiv:14), 
a work which will begin after the true church has been 
removed from the earth, is elsewhere revealed in the Scrip- 
tures; but that this work during the great tribulation 
should be that of which James speaks exclusively is an ex- 
tremely fanciful conception. The Gentiles had been and 
were to be visited for the outcalling of a people for His 
name and after this the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus 
Christ will take place. 

3. Next we read of what will be the result of the coming 
of the Lord. "And will build again the tabernacle of David, 
which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, 
and I will set it up." This is of course only one of the results 
of the Return of the Lord. The Kingdom will be established 
as promised in the Davidic covenant. The divine announce- 
ment made to Mary the Virgin concerning our Lord will then 
be fully accomplished. "The Lord God shall give unto Him 

*The Coming of the Lord for His Saints, who are to be raised from 
the dead, and with the living believers to be caught up in clouds to 
meet the Lord in the air, is nowhere revealed in the prophetic books 
of the Old Testament. 



268 



the throne of His father David; and He shall reign over the 
house of Jacob forever; and of His Kingdom there shall be 
no end" (Luke i: 32-33). This, likewise, is announced by 
the prophets that such a restoration of Israel, the King- 
dom as a theocracy, is to take place. All the prophets 
predicted the coming establishment and glory of the King- 
dom in connection with the visible manifestation of the Lord 
out of heaven. 

4. "That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, 
and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith 
the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are 
all His works from the beginning of the world." The Gen- 
tiles, yea, all of them, will be brought to a knowledge of the 
Lord after the tabernacle of David has been set up. The 
Gentiles will seek the Lord after He has come back. 
There will not be another "outcalling," but the nations 
will turn to the Lord and the glory of the Lord will cover the 
earth as the waters cover the sea. This fourth part of the 
divine program as given through James corresponds with 
the vision which Isaiah saw: "And it shall come to pass in 
the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall 
be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be 
exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it" 
(Is. ii:2). "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, 
which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall 
the Gentiles seek, and His rest shall be glorious" (Is. xi:10). 
"The abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, 
the wealth of the Gentiles shall come unto thee" (Is. lx:5). 
"And it shall come to pass . . all flesh shall come to wor- 
ship before me, saith the Lord" (Is. lxvi:23). And all this 
wonderful plan God had laid from the beginning of the 
world. 

The important truths contained in James' utterance are 
the following: "God gives the Gospel to the Gentiles, 
through the preaching of the Gospel, a people is called out 



269 



for His Name. The church is this outcalled people. The 
Lord Jesus Christ returns after God's purpose in this age 
has been accomplished. The result of His return will be 
the setting up of the tabernacle of David, that is, the prom- 
ised Kingdom. After He has come again the nations of 
the world will seek the Lord.'-' World-conversion, accord- 
ing to this divine program laid down in the Jerusalem coun- 
cil, cannot take place till the Lord has returned. 

James likewise stated that these Gentiles who had turned 
to God should not be troubled. The burden of the law 
was not to be laid upon them; nor should they have any- 
thing to do with circumcision. Four things he mentioned 
from which the Gentiles should be requested to abstain : i rom 
pollution of idols, from fornication, from things strangled, 
and from blood. These things were partially connected 
with idolatry, especially fornication. Immoralities were at 
the bottom of the worship of different idols. But these 
regulations were not based upon the law of Moses, but 
upon the covenant made with Noah and as such binding 
upon the Gentiles (Genesis ix: 4). 

III. The Result made Known. 

Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, 
to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul 
and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief 
men among the brethren: And they wrote by them after this man- 
ner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the 
brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and 
Cilicia: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out 
from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, say- 
ing, Ye must be circumcised, , and keep the law: to whom we gave 
no such commandment: it seemed good unto us, being assembled 
with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved 
Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the 
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and 
Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it 
6eemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no 



270 



greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain froni 
meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, 
and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall 
do well. Fare ye well. (Verses 22-29.) 

After the important decision had been reached in the 
Jerusalem council, the result had to be made known to 
those who were troubled. This was done through a docu- 
ment in the form of a letter, which was addressed to the 
brethren of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. The 
whole assembly was of one mind in this matter. Barnabas 
and Paul, with other chosen men, were commissioned to 
carry this message to the brethren. The two chosen were 
Judas, surnamed Barsabas, a Hebrew, and Silas. The 
latter must have been a Grecian Jew, a Hellenist, for his 
name, Silvanus, is Latin, and we know that he possessed 
the Roman citizenship. This we learn from chapter xvi:37. 
The document reveals the wisdom which is from above, 
that wisdom of which James speaks later in his Epistle. "But 
the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, 
gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, 
without partiality and without hypocrisy" (James iii:17). 
The letter sent to the Gentile brethren bears these blessed 
marks. It is a most wonderful document, brief and extremely 
tactful. Much might have been said in the denunciation of 
these false teachers, but all this is carefully avoided and only 
the most essential matter is presented. And yet it is firm 
and decisive. How different from present day ecclesiastical 
rulings, letters concerning the question of fellowship, etc., 
with their bitter party spirit and unchristian rejection of 
brethren! The Hebrew element could not be offended at 
what the council had decided upon, though circumcision and 
law-keeping were mentioned as not necessary to salvation. 
On the other hand, the two brethren from Antioch, Bar- 
nabas and Paul, were praised for their conduct; "they had 
hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." 



271 



Such a loving acknowledgment must have had a very 
salutary effect upon the much disturbed Antiochian assem- 
bly. All was done by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who 
indeed had indicated all along that circumcision was not 
necessary for Gentiles, for He had come upon the uncircum- 
cised; therefore the statement — "it seemed good to the Holy 
Spirit, and to us." 

IV. The Consolation brought to Antioch. 

So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when 
they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the 
epistle: which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consola- 
tion. And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, 
exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. 
And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace 
from the brethren unto the apostles. Notwithstanding it pleased 
Silas to abide there still. Paul also and Barnabas continued in 
Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many 
others also. (Verses 30-35.) 

It is a most blessed 'and happy scene described in these 
verses. The assembly in Antioch must have been much 
in prayer while Paul and Barnabas were absent; eagerly 
they waited for their return. As soon as they had arrived 
the multitude of Christians came together for a general 
meeting. The letter then was read and the result was great 
joy. It was a great consolation to receive such a loving 
message. But Judas and Silas had been enjoined to tell 
them "the same things by mouth" (verse 27), that is, orally. 
They now discharged their commission. They both were 
prophets, and exhorted the brethren with many words. The 
gift of a prophet is here described. It is exhortation and 
speaking for the edification of God's people. Through these 
exhortations the assembly was confirmed, that is, more 
fully established. No doubt their chief exhortation must 
have been "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 



272 



peace." They abode in Antioch for some time and then, 
perhaps after another assembly gathering, they were per- 
mitted to return to the Apostles in Jerusalem in peace, or 
rather, with peace. From Galatians ii : 1 we gain the addi- 
tional information that the three of whom Paul writes as 
the pillars, James, Cephas, and John, had made a request 
which was not embodied in the letter read to the assembly. 
''Only they would that we should remember the poor; the 
same which I also was forward to do." Most likely this 
request was not forgotten and the poor in Jerusalem were 
generously remembered by the large assembly in Antioch 
and the money sent to the Apostles. 

There is some doubt about the genuineness of verse 34. 
Most manuscripts omit the statement about Silas. The 
preceding verses show that both Judas and Silas were let 
go to return to the Apostles. Silas, however, must have 
returned to Antioch, for we find him there according to 
verse 40 of this chapter. The blessed activity of Paul and 
Barnabas was renewed in Antioch. They taught and 
preached the Word of the Lord with many others. What 
liberty they must have then enjoyed and what gracious 
results the Lord must have given from this ministry! But 
the controversy was not altogether overcome. Peter some 
time later visited Antioch, a visit not mentioned in the Book 
of Acts. We read of it in Galatians ii:l 1-14. Paul was then 
likewise present and withstood Peter to the face when he 
refused to eat with the Gentiles and build again what he 
had destroyed. Peter's visit must have taken place shortly 
after the return of Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. 

V. Paul and Barnabas separate. 

And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again 
and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the 
word of the Lord, and see how they do. And Barnabas determined 
to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul 



273 



thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them 
from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. And the 
contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder 
one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto 
Cyprus; and Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended 
by the brethren unto the grace of God. And he went through Syria 
and Cilicia, confirming the churches. (Verses 36-41.) 

The second great journey of the Apostle Paul had an 
unfortunate beginning. It started with the separation of 
the two who had so blessedly worked together and whose 
joined work had so graciously been owned by the Lord. 
Human failure and shortcoming were at the bottom of it^ 
It is evident from the inspired record, that there was no 
waiting before the Lord and no dependence on the guid- 
ance of the Holy Spirit in connection with this new start. 
How different from the first journey! Then the whole 
assembly was ministering to the Lord and the Holy Spirit 
said, "Separate unto me Barnabas and Saul." Here prayer 
is not mentioned, nor does the Holy Spirit indicate a new 
work for the two messengers and as a result the two are 
separated, not to fresh service, but from each other. Paul 
said, "Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city 
where we have preached the Word of the Lord, and see 
how they do." His great love for the brethren prompted 
this action. His heart longed for them, but it was never- 
theless his own will and desire, and not according to the 
mind of the Holy Spirit. The great work the Lord had for 
His servant was not to go over the same route and in a kind 
of inspection tour, visiting every place again, but to carry 
the Gospel into other regions and evangelize new cities and 
provinces. To go again with Barnabas, from place to place, 
places already visited, was Paul's plan; the Lord's plan was 
another. And how much self choosing in service for God 
there is in our days! How little true waiting on the Lord 
and dependence on the Holy Spirit! Many servants who 



should carry the Gospel into needed fields and teach the Word 
to those who are destitute of the truth, confine themselves to 
a small circle of churches and minister exclusively to these. 
"Let us go again and visit our brethren" — but what about 
the* other members of the same body and the many cities 
where the Gospel is greatly needed? The servant of Christ, 
whether he is evangelist or teacher, must exercise this gift 
under the Lord, directed by His Spirit. Paul suggested to 
another servant, to Barnabas, what he thought he should 
do. How could he know what the Holy Spirit meant Bar- 
nabas to do? 

Barnabas was quite ready to fall in line with Paul's sug- 
gestion. Nothing is said that they bowed their knees 
together and asked the Lord first, whether it was His will 
that they should go again. Soon it became evident that 
the' action was not sanctioned by the Lord. Barnabas had 
a will of' his own, and was determined to take John Mark 
along. Paul refused this request. He did not care to be 
associated with one who had failed in his service. A sharp 
contention followed, and Barnabas and Paul were separated 
from each other. Barnabas took Mark and sailed away 
into Cyprus. What their service was is not reported in this 
book. Such contention, and separation of beloved brethren 
was surely not the work of the Holy Spirit. It was the 
result of not asking council of the Lord. But God over- 
ruled it all in the end and brought good out of this failure, 
as He only can in His unfathomable grace. It may be 
possible that another reason was also connected with this 
separation. Both John Mark and Barnabas may have had 
leanings toward the Hebrew side in the matter of the keep- 
ing of the law; while Paul stood firmly for what he had so 
earnestly contended for in Jerusalem. That this may have 
been the case is suggested by Gal. ii:13 — "and the rest of 
the Jews dissembled likewise with him (Peter); in so much 
that even Barnabas was carried away with their dissimula- 



275 



tion." But this break of fellowship in service, the subtle 
work of the enemy, was not permanent. 

Paul mentions Barnabas in 1 Cor. ix:6, and of Mark's 
restoration and Paul's love for him we read in Col. iv.10 
and 2 Tim. iv:ll. 

Paul then chose Silas. He took the place of Barnabas 
in this second journey. The assembly fully recognized the 
choice of Paul and the brethren commended them both to 
the grace of God. Paul went through Syria and Cilicia 
first confirming the churches, which does not mean the so- 
called man-made rite of confirmation, but he taught them 
more fully, and thus they were confirmed in the truth and 
established. 



276 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Before we follow the second missionary journey of the 
Apostle Paul, it may not be out of place to give a little 
chronological table of the life of this chosen instrument, be- 
ginning with his conversion down to the close of the second 
journey. This will help in reviewing the remarkable activity 
of the great apostle to the Gentiles and put before us the 
events from Chapter ix-xviii in a concise form. 



About A. D. 36 Conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Acts ix. 



36 — 39 At Damascus — Preaching in the synagogue. 

His journey into Arabia. Returns to Da- 
mascus — and flees from Damascus. 
His FIRST visit to Jerusalem; three years 
after his conversion. Back to Tarsus. Acts 
ix. 23-26. Gal. i:18. 
39 — 40 Rest of the Jewish Churches. Acts ix. 31. 

Paul preaches the gospel in Syria and Cilicia. 
Gal. i:21. 

A period of uncertain length. — During this 
time he probably experienced many of the 
perils and sufferings which he recounts to 
the Corinthians. 2 Cor. xi. 
He is brought from Tarsus to Antioch by Bar- 
nabas; and remains there a year before the 
famine. Acts xi:26. 
Paul's SECOND visit to Jerusalem, with the 
collection. Acts xi. 30. 
45 He returns to Antioch. Acts xii:2-5. 

Paul's FIRST missionary journey with Bar- 
nabas to Cyprus, Antioch in Pisidia, Ico- 
nium, Lystra. Returns to Antioch, Derbe. 
46 — 49 Labors a long time in Antioch. 

Dissension and disputation about circumcis- 
ion. Acts xiv., xv:l, 2, 



40—43 



44 



277 



Paul's THIRD visit to Jerusalem with Bar- 
nabas, fourteen years after his conversion. 
Gal. ii:l. 

50 They attend the council at Jerusalem. Acts xv. 
Return of Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, with 

Judas and Silas. Acts xv:32-35. 
Paul's SECOND missionary journey with Silas 
and Timothy. From Antioch to Syria, 
Cilicia, Derbe, Lystra, Phrygia, Galatia, 
Troas. Luke joins him. Acts xvi:10. 

51 Entrance of the Gospel into Europe. Acts 

xvi:ll-13. 

Paul visits Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Ath- 
ens, Corinth. Spends a year and six months 
at Corinth. Acts xviiirll. 

52 First Epistle to the Thessalonians written, 
Second Epistle to the Thessalonians written. 

53 Paul leaves Corinth and sails to Ephesus. 

Acts xviii:18, 19. 

54 Paul's FOURTH visit to Jerusalem at the feast. 

His return to Antioch. 

The second missionary journey of Paul is now before us 
and the divine record is full of interest. The sixteenth 
chapter shows the progress of the Gospel from Asia to 
Europe. We divide this chapter into five parts. 

I. In Derbe and Lystra: Timotheus chosen and circum- 
cised by Paul (Verses 1-5). 

II. The Holy Spirit forbids the preaching of the Word in 
Asia (Verses 6-8). 

III. The vision of the man of Macedonia and the journey 
there (Verses 9-12). 

IV. The Gospel in Europe. Events in Philippi (Verses 
13-40). 

I. In Derbe and Lystra: Timotheus chosen and circum- 
cised by Paul. 



278 



Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain dis- 
ciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, 
which was a Jewess,, and believed; but his father was a Greek: 
. Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra 
and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took 
and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those 
quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek. And as 
they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees 
for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which 
were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the 
faith, and increased in number daily. (Verses 1-5.) 

Derbe and Lystra, familiar to us from the first missionary 
journey, are visited again. In Lystra, Paul had healed 
the cripple, and there he must have met the Jewess Eunice, 
who lived with her mother, Lois, and whose son was Tim- 
otheus. Eunice was a believer and so was the grandmother 
of Timotheus (2 Tim. i:5). He had a bringing up in the 
Holy Scriptures (2 Tim. iii:15). The young man had an 
excellent report by the brethren of Lystra and Iconium. 
The Holy Spirit moved the Apostle to have Timotheus to 
go forth with him. The Epistles to Timothy shed more 
light on this. In 1 Tim. i :1 8 we read: "This charge I com- 
mit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies 
which went before on thee, that thou mightest war a good 
warfare." A better translation of "according to the proph- 
ecies which went before thee" is "according to the prophecies 
which led the way to thee" Timothy had been marked out 
by the Holy Spirit through the gift of prophecy as the proper 
companion of the Apostle. No mention is made in the rec- 
ord before us of the laying on of hands. However, we read 
of it in the Epistles to Timothy. "Neglect not the gift that 
is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying 
on of the hand of the presbytery" (1 Tim. iv:14). "Where- 
fore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift 
of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands" 
(2 Tim. i:6), This laying on of hands by the elders and by 



279 



the Apostle Paul must have been done in Lystra. The cir- 
cumcision of Timotheus is prominently mentioned. Paul 
circumcised him, and the reason of this act — "because of the 
Jews which were in those quarters." This action of Paul has 
been often condemned as an action which was not according 
to the mind of the Spirit. We do not think such was the case 
at all. That Paul's act in circumcising Timothy must have 
produced a stir among the Gentile Christians can easily be 
imagined. But recently their minds had been agitated about 
circumcision. The message of the false leaders — " except ye 
be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be 
saved" — was still fresh in their memories. And now Paul 
himself circumcised one whose father was a Greek. Paul's 
teaching on circumcision was well known; he was the apostle 
of the uncircumcision. Did not this action side him with the 
lawkeepers and the Judaizers? But looked upon in the 
right way, all these charges of inconsistency and going back 
to the law fall down. The law has nothing to say about the 
circumcision of the offspring of mixed marriages. It is well 
known that, if there was a mixed marriage (i. e., between 
a Jew and a Gentile), the law would have nothing to say to 
the offspring. "Legally, the Jewish father could not own 
his own children born of a Gentile mother, or vice versa (see 
Ezra x). Now Timothy being the offspring of such a mar- 
riage, there could be no claim, even if there was license to 
circumcise him; and Paul condescends out of grace to those 
who were on lower ground, and stops their mouths most 
effectually."* His act then was not according to Law, 
for circumcision in Timothy's case was not commanded 
but it was done on the ground of grace; he did not want to 
put a stumbling block into the way of the Jews. 1 Cor. ix:20 
gives the fullest reason for this act of the Apostle, "And 
unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the 



*William Kelly, introduction to Acts, 



280 



Jews, to them that are under the law, not being myself under 
the law (Rev. Version), that I might gain them that are 
under the law." We see then the apostolic band, Paul, 
Silas and Timothy, going through the different cities making 
known the decrees of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, 
that is, what had been agreed upon concerning the relation 
of believing Gentiles to the law. How needful this was for 
these Galatian churches! These Galatians were by nature 
fickle-minded and unstable. When Paul was with them they 
were ready to pluck out their eyes and give them to the 
apostle (Gal. iv:15); some time later they were only too ready 
to listen to the Judaizing teachers and Paul had to write 
them: "I marvel that you are so soon removed from him 
that called you into the grace of Christ unto another Gospel" 
(Gal. i:6). The effect of the ministry of the apostle and the 
declaration of the decision of the Jerusalem council resulted 
in the strengthening of the churches and in an increased 
membership. 

II. The Holy Spirit forbids the preaching of the Word in 
Asia. 

Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of 
Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word 
in Asia. After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into 
Bithynia: but the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not. And they 
passing by Mysia came down to Troas. (Verses 6-8.) 

They travel on throughout Phrygia and Galatia. Though 
there is no record given of work done here, it does not mean 
that they were idle and had no testimony for the multitudes. 
But suddenly their plans of evangelization were halted by 
the voice of the Holy Spirit. He forbade them to preach 
the Word in Asia. Their intention was to reach now the 
large province of Asia* with its flourishing cities. But the 



*At that time a large territory of Asia Minor along the Aegean Sea 
was called "Asia." 



281 



Holy Spirit entered a protest against this plan. He did 
not want to have the Word preached at that time in Asia. 
Later Paul spent three years in the capital of the province, 
in Ephesus, and all Asia heard the Word. Then they reached 
the northern part of the province, Mysia; obedient to the 
voice of the Holy Spirit, they did not speak the Word. 
They then expected to reach Bithynia, which borders the 
Black Sea, but the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not. He 
would not let them go there. Bithynia heard the Word 
at another time, perhaps through Peter, for his first Epistle 
is addressed to the strangers throughout Pontus, Galatia, 
Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. Christianity became so 
strong in that province at the beginning of the second 
century that idol worship was seriously affected.* But the 
Holy Spirit had His own time and v/ays for giving the 
Gospel to these provinces. This shows clearly that the 
Holy Spirit must guide and direct in service. How He 
arrested the messengers and suffered them not to proceed 
is not stated. They followed His guidance obediently. 
How necessary it is for the servant of Christ, be he an 
evangelist or a teacher, to depend on the Holy Spirit for a 
direction! Waiting on the Lord and then to go forth guided 
by His Spirit is the true way of a successful ministry. He 
must point out the way and the places and the time when 
and where the precious Word is to be spoken. Such humble 
reliance upon the direction of the Holy Spirit is but little 
known in our days. The great movements of our times 
seem to place more stress on organization, widespread 
advertising methods and financial support, than on the 
presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The servants 
of the Lord Jesus Christ ministering the Gospel and the Word 
in the end of this present evil age need the guidance of the 
Holy Spirit as much as the apostle in the beginning of the 

*From a letter of the Roman governor Pliny. 



282 



age. And the Holy Spirit is today the same as He was 
then, when He suffered them not to minister in Asia and in 
Bithynia. We also call attention to the true rendering 
"the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not." The blessed Lord 
walked on earth in the power of the Spirit and now the same 
Spirit who led Him while on earth, leads and guides his own 
into service. 

In this action of the Holy Spirit He assumed once more 
His authority, which, as we saw, was not fully recognized 
in the beginning of the second missionary journey, as He 
was recognized when Paul went forth the first time. He 
had to be held back from going in self-choosing to places 
which were not then to be visited. Thus kept back from 
ministry in Bithynia they turned towards the seacoast and 
came to Troas. This seaport was located opposite the 
European Continent and Macedonia was the nearest prov- 
ince. Not permitted to preach in Asia, held back from 
ministry in Bithynia, a double course was open to the 
apostle, either to go back to Antioch or to cross over to 
Europe. 

III. The vision of the man of Macedonia, the journey 
there. 

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There stood a 
man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Mace- 
donia, and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately 
we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the 
Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Therefore 
loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, 
and the next day to Neapolis; and from thence to Philippi, which is 
the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were 
in that city abiding certain days. (Verses 9-12.) 

The Lord, who had kept them back by His Spirit from 
going into the provinces, which were not to be reached at 
that time, now makes His will known where they were to 



283 



go. All the uncertainty and perplexity which had rested 
upon the little company is now to be lifted. That there 
was deep soul exercise and continued prayer we may well 
surmise. They cast themselves completely on the Lord and 
He now directs them. Paul had a vision during that night. 
He beheld a man from Macedonia, whom he must have 
recognized as such by his dress or some other way and he 
prayed him — "Come over into Macedonia and help us." And 
after he had seen the vision they immediately decided to 
cross over into Macedonia. They had gathered first by 
spiritual intelligence that the meaning of the vision was that 
the Lord called them to preach the Gospel in that land. 
All this is full of encouragement to God's servant. If we 
only learn to wait and trust in Him, He will direct our steps. 
However, the vision Paul had must not be taken as the 
common mode of guidance, nor as something which was 
to be repeated. We are to walk in faith and not by sight, 
and faith does not want sight, nor expects visions to know 
the will of the Lord. The prophecy of Joel in which dreams 
and visions are mentioned does not concern the present 
age at all. The people who claim to have visions and dreams 
now, as a result of a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 
are generally, if not always the subjects of delusion. When 
a Christian is fully obedient to the Holy Spirit and the 
Spirit of God fills him, he does not want and does not need 
visions and dreams. The vision Paul had was an extra- 
ordinary event. It was unexpected and unasked for. 

According to the so-called Bezan text* they found in the 
harbor a ship sailing the next morning. This may have 
been the case, for the text shows that there was no delay 
in their departure. Whenever the Lord calls to a service 
He also opens the way providentially. The tenth verse is 

*A Greek MS. of the Gospels and Acts Written in the VI Century, 
which came into possession of Beza the scholar and reformer. It has 
many variations from the ordinary text. 



284 



interesting for another reason. The pronoun is now changed 
from "they" to "we." From this we learn that Luke, the 
beloved physician and the chosen instrument to write this 
historical book, joined the party. He does not mention 
his name at all, but keeps himself completely in the back- 
ground. May we profit by this beautiful example of humil- 
ity! From Samothracia they came to Neapolis and from 
thence to Philippi. 

Philippi, the first European city in which the Gospel of 
the Son of God was preached, is described as the chief city 
of that part of Macedonia and a colony (verse 12). This city 
had been founded by Philip of Macedon, to keep the wild 
Thracians in check, which were the neighbors of the Mac- 
edonians. In 42 B.C., a decisive battle was fought during 
the Roman civil wars, and Philippi was made a Roman 
colony and settled with soldiers. It was mostly inhabited 
by Roman citizens. It was a city filled with idolatry. The 
presence of Lydia of Thyatira gives the hint that a trade in 
purple must have existed there. No synagogue was located 
in the city. The events which transpired here are given 
in detail and occupy the rest of this chapter. 

IV. The Gospel in Europe. Events in Philippi The 

first incident recorded is the conversion of Lydia, a seller 
of purple, of the City of Thyatira. 

And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where 
prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the 
women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, 
a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, 
heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the 
things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized 
and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me 
to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. 
And she constrained us. (Verses 13-15.) 

They may have arrived quite early in the week and waited 
for the sabbath. But there was no synagogue in the city, 



285 



since the Apostle and his companions to find the few Jews 
in that city went out of the city by the riverside, where 
prayer was wont to be made. The river was the small 
stream Gangites. It was the custom of the Jews to go to 
the riverside or to the sea for prayer, most likely on account 
of the different washings commanded by the law. Of this 
we read already in Ezra (viii:15, 21). Many other sources 
speak of this custom. The Apostle and his associates 
found a company of women gathered there. We wonder 
if Paul looked for the man whom he had seen in his vision. 
But there was no man present; only a company of women. 
But these messengers were not discouraged by the humble 
audience, the first which ever gathered in Europe to hear 
the Gospel. They did not despise the small things but were 
ready to speak to the few women who had come together 
for prayer. Paul spoke to them. His words are not given, 
but he had one theme, the Gospel of Grace, and of this and 
the Lord Jesus Christ, His death on the cross and His resur- 
rection he assuredly spoke. Among the women was 
Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which was 
situated in the province Asia, where the door had been 
closed. Lydia was a worshipper of God. She had turned 
to the true God and had dropped idolatry. She was a pious 
soul earnestly seeking after the truth; this piety was seen 
in her seeking out on the sabbath those who worship the 
Lord. She was, like Cornelius, converted, but had no 
knowledge of salvation, because she knew nothing of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

And then the Lord opened the heart of Lydia. A blessed 
word this is. He Himself must open the doors of the hearts 
of the hearers. Human hands could not do this; the power 
belongs to Him alone, unless the Lord goes before and pre- 
pares the hearts for the reception of the truth and removes 
the bars, all efforts are in vain. May those who go forth 
to preach the Gospel look to the Lord to open the hearts 



286 



cf the hearers, and when precious souls accept the truth, 
let us give the praise and the glory to Him and not to the 
evangelists. Alas! how much work is being done m which 
the Lord has no share, in which He and His Spirit is dishon- 
ored. There is also a special significance in the fact that 
Lydia was from Thyatira. It is more than possible that she 
carried the Gospel to her native city in Asia. An assembly 
was there and from the words of our Lord in the message 
to Thyatira (Rev. ii : 1 8—29) we learn that another woman 
corrupted Christianity there. "I have this against thee, 
that thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, which calleth her- 
self a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to 
commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols" 
(Rev. ii:20). Such a woman had sprung up in Thyatira, 
the opposite from the gentle Lydia with her beautiful 
experience and Christian character. Prophetically, Jezebel 
in Thyatira stands for Rome, "the woman clothed in purple 
and scarlet." 

The baptism of herself and her household followed im- 
mediately, and having had her heart opened, she now opened 
her house to Paul and his companions. She besought them 
and, evidently a rich woman, she showed great humility — "if 
ye judge me to be faithful to the Lord." And they abode in 
her house. She fully identified herself with the messengers 
of the Lord, and must have shown them great kindness. 
Her house became the home of Paul, Silas, Timothy and 
Luke, and the gathering place of the assembly in Philippi 
(verse 40). No doubt later in sending fellowship from Phil- 
ippi to the Apostle (Phil. iv:14-16) she had a large share in 
this. Thus the blessed fruits of the Spirit were abundantly 
revealed. 

And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel 
possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her 
masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and 
us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high 



287 



God, which shew unto iis the way of salvation* And this did she" 
many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the 
spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of 
her. And he came out the same hour. (Verses 16-18.) 

The second event in Philippi is the deliverance of the dam- 
sel, possessed with the spirit of Python. The enemy is 
now coming to the front once more. He could not leave 
the entrance of Europe by the Gospel unchallenged and so 
he begins his work. He comes in the garb of an angel 
of light and appears as a friend of the servants of Christ, 
seemingly ready to help the cause of the Apostle. A damsel, 
most likely a slave girl, had a spirit of divination, or, as 
the word is in the original, of Python. Python was the 
name, supposedly, of a great dragon at Delphi, slain by- 
Apollo. She had masters over her and brought them 
much gain by her soothsaying. She was what is called 
to-day, a medium, possessed by a demon. Such the spirit- 
ualistic mediums are, if they are not outright frauds, who 
deceive their dupes by clever tricks. And it is a startling 
and solemn fact that some of the leading educators, college 
professors, literary men and even so-called clergymen are 
seeking after these demon-possessed girls and women and 
pay them well for their damnable practices. Of course 
this goes under the name of "scientific investigation" or 
"psychical research." 

The girl here was possessed by a spirit. This was fully 
recognized by the people of Philippi as well as by the Apostle. 
"All attempts to explain away such a narrative as this 
by the subterfuges of Rationalism is more than ever futile.*" 
Another commentary on Acts suggests that the damsel was 
probably a ventriloquist! Through this cunning demon 
Satan tried to hinder the work by assuming a friendly 
relation towards the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. 



"Dean Alford: Greek Testament, 



288 



She followed Paul and his three helpers and announced 
before them the fact that they are the servants of the most 
high God and that they show the way of salvation. This 
she did many days. That demon spoke the truth, though 
he could not confess Christ as Lord and Saviour. Instead 
of calling them deceivers and warning against the Gospel 
they brought, this evil spirit applauded them. Instead 
of assailing the work in an open fashion, he appears as 
if he would help it along and that by flattery. His attempt 
was to support outwardly the work of the Gospel by this 
loud-mouthed advertising and then to hurt it at the same 
time. But the Gospel does not need such support. Nor 
does it need the support of the world, behind which Satan 
stands as ruler, prince and god. The support and applause 
of the world does not further the Gospel, but it is the most 
deceptive hindrance of it Satan has ever invented. And 
how much of all this we see at the present time! How 
often evangelistic movements with their great schemes 
seek the alliance and assistance of the daily press, which 
is generally anti-christian, to help along the work of the 
Gospel by giving to it prominence in the eyes of the world; 
and other facts we leave unmentioned. The world is 
always the world and friendship with it must mean enmity 
to God. Such was the attempt of Satan here to ally him- 
self with the servants of Christ and then- to spoil them. 
How well he has succeeded in Christendom of to-day! 

But Paul would not accept this testimony. He ignored 
the attempt at first and goes on his way without paying 
any attention to the wild cries of the damsel. At last he_ 
was grieved and then in the blessed name of the Lord Jesus 
Christ he commanded the demon to come out of her. And 
he came out the same hour. 

And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, 
they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace 
unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates, saying, These 



289' 

men, being jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach cus- 
toms, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, 
being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them; 
and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat 
them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they 
cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely: Who, 
having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, 
and made their feet fast in the stocks. (Verses 19-24.) 

The enemy having failed in his wily attempt now shows 
himself in his true character. The masters of the damsel 
who was delivered from the evil spirit, were just as much 
in Satan's power as the demon-possessed girl. Through 
these men Satan now opposes the progress of the Gospel 
by force. Paul and Silas are rushed into the marketplace 
before the magistrates. 

The accusation was that they taught an unlawful re- 
ligion. Paul's preachings of course aimed at the idol wor- 
ship of Rome and of Augustus. In this at least the accu- 
sation was true. But the offence of the two men appeared 
in a worse light, when it was announced that both Paul 
and Silas were Romans. To proclaim another religion 
was paramount with treason. Of course the motives 
presented before the judges were false and a mere pre- 
tence. But Satan succeeded in stirring up the multitudes. 
The mass of people rose up against them. The Magistrates 
also joined in and stripped the two messengers of the Lord 
of their clothes. This was considered a great shame and 
insult and they must have felt it keenly. Paul refers to 
it in his epistle to the Thessalonians — "But even after 
that we had surTered before, and were shamefully entreated, 
as ye know in Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak 
unto you the Gospel of God with much contention" (1 
Thess. ii:2). Then in that condition they were severely 
whipped, many stripes were laid on them. This is one 
of the beatings with rods to which Paul refers in 2 Cor. 
xi:25— "Thrice was I beaten with rods," The shame 



290 



and severe pain from this beating must have been almost 
unbearable. Then they were cast into the prison and 
the jailer was especially charged to keep them safely. This 
individual felt his responsibility and to make them doubly 
secure he put their feet into the stocks. And thus stripped 
of the clothes, with lacerated and bleeding backs, their feet 
were encased in the cruel stocks. The cruelty of man pro- 
ducing such suffering was the work of the enemy. They 
suffered in patience and the Holy Spirit filling them gave 
them strength to suffer unjustly. 

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto 
God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a 
great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were 
shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every 
one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking 
out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his 
sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners 
had fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thy- 
self no harm: for we are all here. (Verses 25-28.) 

Evening comes on and when midnight is reached strange 
sounds are heard in the dungeon. Curses and vile lan- 
guage are the familiar tones with weeping and gnashing 
of teeth, which sounded through these miserable Roman 
prisons. But now the voice of singing is heard. Prayer 
and Praise come from the cell of the two imprisoned evange- 
lists. At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises 
unto God. The prisoners heard them. No doubt the 
prayer and praise was fully on the line of the blessed Gospel; 
they must have praised God for the Lord Jesus, that He 
suffered for their sins and had saved them. They knew 
the Lord was with them and the joy of the Lord burst 
forth in these songs in the night. "He giveth songs in 
the night." How this was verified in their case and what 
a testimony it was. Sufferings like theirs we know no 
longer, and alas! if some suffering is the lot of some Chris- 



291 



tians, or a little tribulation comes, there is often murmur- 
ing and doubting instead of rejoicing and praising the 
Lord. 

And suddenly there came an answer. The Lord an- 
swered the prayers of His suffering servants by an earth- 
quake. He intervened in their behalf in an extraordinary 
manner. Rationalism has tried either to make it appear 
as if this was a coincidence or ignored the earthquake com- 
pletely.* God shook the whole place when they were 
still praising Him. The doors were opened, the bonds 
of the prisoners were loosed, but the prison itself did not 
fall. This may be explained by the fact that this prison, 
like other Roman prisons consisted in excavations in a 
rocky hillside. The prisoners were chained to the walls 
and the cave cells were shut by wooden doors with heavy 
bolts. These burst open and the fetters of the prisoners 
dropped to the ground. The Lord set the prisoners free. 
But how many dungeons there have been since then with 
their uncountable victims with tortured limbs, parched 
tongues and feverish brow, prisoners who, too, like Paul 
and Silas, prayed and praised. But no answer came to 
deliver them. No earthquake opened the doors; they 
died the death of martyrs — and heaven was silent to their 
pleas. After God's Revelation is completed the heavens 
are silent, and God expects man to believe His Word. 
A day is coming when once more there will be interven- 
tion from above in the affairs of this world. 

The jailer was awakened by the shock and was ready 
to kill himself, seeing that his prisoners had been liberated, 
for he was responsible, according to the Roman law, with 
his life for the prisoners. But Paul's loud cry — "Do thyself 
no harm; for we are all here" kept him from piercing him- 



*Renan in his " Apostle Paul " does not even mention the earth- 
quake. 



292 



self with his own sword. Satan would have rushed the 
jailer into eternity by suicide; but God had something 
else for the poor Roman heathen. 

Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, 
and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and 
said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were 
in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and 
washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before 
them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And when 
it was day, the magistrates sent the Serjeants, saying. Let these men 
go. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The 
magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go 
in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly 
uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and 
now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come 
themselves and fetch us out. And the Serjeants told these words 
unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they 
were Romans. And they came and besought them, and brought 
them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. And they 
went out of the prison, and entered into the house o/Lydia: and when 
they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed. 
(Verses 29-40.) 

The sudden event, the fact that the prisoners had not 
escaped, the assurance from Paul that they were all there, 
and perhaps the singing and the prayers of the Apostles, 
which he may have heard, all carried conviction to his 
soul. We see him at the Apostle's feet a trophy of God's 
Grace, a witness to the power of God and an evidence 
that the wrath of the enemy must praise Him. "Sirs, 
what must I do to be saved?" was the all important ques- 
tion which concerns him now more than the few prisoners 
or even his own physical life. The Grace of God had 
changed the poor jailer into a thoroughly awakened soul. 
The answer to the anxious soul is not slow in coming, "Be- 



293 



lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and 
thy house." And upon this they spake unto him the Word 
of God, the story of Christ, the blessed Gospel of trusting 
on Him who died on the cross. Only believing, nothing 
to do, for God had done it all in His own Son. This is the 
Gospel of Grace, that a free and full salvation is given to 
the sinner in simply believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
It is the same way of salvation to-day as it was then. Every 
one who denies and rejects it has no hope and is a lost 
soul.* 

And the promise was not only to the jailer, but also 
to his house. This is a blessed truth alas! too often over- 
looked by Christian parents or ignored through false teach- 
ing. The promise of course is conditional. No one can 
be saved except by personal faith in a personal Saviour. 
The Christian home stands for much according to New 
Testament. The husband is to love his wife even as Christ 
also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, so that 
the husband represents Christ. The wife is to submit 
under the husband, as the church is subject unto the Lord, 
and the children are to obey the parents in the Lord (Ephes. 
v:22-33; vi:l). The exhortation is given to the fathers, 
"bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" 
(vi:4). We can bring our children to the Lord and as 
we bring them up according to the divine exhortation we 
have full assurance that they shall be saved. 

Not alone did the jailer hear the Word of the Lord, but 
also all that were in his house, which no doubt meant his 
household, wife and children and all who belonged to him. 

*And how God's way of salvation is rejected in these days is frightful. 
Salvation by character, a bloodless Gospel is the present day substitute. 
Thus a certain preacher taught some months ago in a popular monthly 
"Salvation is not an instantaneous act whereby the sinner is assured of 
deliverance from hell and enjoyment of heaven, but a lifelong process." 
Such a statement sweeps the entire Gospel away. 



294 



And after he had washed their stripes he and all his were 
baptized straightway. There was no delay with water 
baptism. 

In washing their stripes and welcoming Paul and Silas 
to his home, setting meat before them, the jailer showed 
the works which follow faith. And faith had brought 
joy to his heart. He rejoiced, believing in God with all 
his house. 

The morning brought an order from the magistrates that 
these men should be dismissed. But Paul now demands 
to be heard. These magistrates had dealt in an unjust 
manner and they had to acknowledge their fault as well 
as the rights of the Gospel. He demanded that they come 
themselves and fetch them out of prison, inasmuch as 
they had beaten them uncondemned, and the men whom 
they had treated in this way were Romans. When the 
magistrates heard the message they feared. According 
to Cicero, to bind a Roman was a crime, to scourge him a 
scandal, to kill him a homicide. It was one of the most 
valued privileges of Roman citizenship, this immunity 
from corporal punishment. The cry civis Romanus sum 
(I am a Roman citizen) brought even among Barbarians 
help and safety. They came therefore out to the prison 
and besought them, desiring that they should depart out 
of the city. In this action they acknowledged the wrong 
they had done. But they were not in a hurry to leave. 
They first entered the house of Lydia and saw the brethren, 
whom they comforted. Then they departed. Luke stayed 
behind in Philippi. The blessed fruit of the ministry of 
Paul and Silas formed the beginning of the first assembly 
in Europe, to which later from Rome the Apostle addressed 
thfit precious Epistle of Christian life and experience, 



295 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Three cities in which the Gospel is next preached are 
before us in this chapter. But there is a marked differ- 
ence between these three places. In Thessalonica there 
was much hostility, the result of the success of the Gospel. 
In Berea a more noble class of Jews were found. Their 
nobility consisted in submission to the Scriptures, the 
oracles of God, and in a ready mind. There was a still 
greater blessing among the Jews and the Gentiles. In 
Athens the Apostle Paul met idolatry, indifference and 
ridicule. 

I. The Gospel in Thessalonica (Verses 1-9). 

II. The Gospel in Berea (Verses 10-14). 

III. Paul in Athens (Verses 15-34). 

I. The Gospel in Thessalonica. 

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, 
they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. 
And Paul, as his manner was, went into the room, and three sab- 
bath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and 
alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again 
from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is 
Christ. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul 
and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the 
chief women not a few. But the Jews which believed not, moved 
with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, 
and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and 
assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to 
the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason 
and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that 
have turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom 
Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of 
Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus, And they 



296 



troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these 
things. And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the 
others, they let them go. (Verses 1-9.) 

No record is given of work done on the way to Thessa- 
lonica. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the blessed 
messengers of the cross made for the influential capital 
of the province, knowing that they would find a goodly 
number of Jews there and a synagogue where they could 
preach. Thessalonica was one of the most influential 
cities in those days. Even to-day it is a city of almost 
100,000 inhabitants and its ancient name is still to be traced 
in its present one, that is, Saloniki, the second l argest city in 
EuropeanTurkey. It has an excellent location on the Aegean 
Sea and by a direct road, the Egnatian way, had communi- 
cation with the capital of the Roman Empire. It was one of 
the free cities of the Empire and had its own constitution. 
This was democratic, its authority resting with the Demos, 
the people. The chief magistrates were called Politarchs, 
as we would call them now, city fathers or rulers. This 
word is used by Luke in verses 6 and 8. As it is not found 
at all in classical literature, certain Bible critics accused 
the writer of the Book of Acts of inaccuracy and impeached 
in this way the inspiration of the book. But like all other 
criticism, this charge has come back upon the critics. There 
is in the British Museum to-day a -stone block in which 
the word "Politarch" is chiselled. The stone was taken 
from a triumphal arch, which stood in Thessalonica in the 
first century and which was preserved till 1867, when it 
was destroyed. The one stone block containing an in- 
scription was transferred to the famous British Museum. 
The inscription is translated as follows: "The Politarchs 
being Sopater, son of Cleopatra, and Lucius Pontius Secun- 
dus, Aulus Arius Sabinus, Demetrius son of Faustus, De- 
metrius son of Nicopolis, Foilus son of Parmenio also called 
Meniscus, Caius Agilleius Potitus. ,, It is intensely inter- 



297 



esting to find that some of these names are mentioned 
in Acts xx :4. 

In this city the missionaries entered, and Paul at once 
sought out the synagogue. This was his custom. For 
three Sabbath days, but more correctly as the margin 
has it, weeks, he ministered the Word to the Jews. And 
now we have before us a very interesting record. "He 
reasoned with them out of (from) the Scriptures, open- 
ing and alleging that Christ must have needs suffered 
and risen again from the dead: and that this Jesus (he 
said) whom I preach unto you is Christ." 

From this we may learn important lessons. His mode 
of approaching the Jews here as well as elsewhere was 
not in a regular discourse in the form of a sermon or a lec- 
ture. It was just a converse, a discussion permitting 
questions and giving answers. It was teaching in a con- 
versational way and the Scriptures were the foundation of 
it. Of course, the Old Testament is meant by the name 
Scriptures, for the New Testament Scriptures were not 
yet in existence. Such reasonings suited the Jewish mind 
well. It is still the best way in which to approach the 
Jew with the Gospel. The method which Paul followed 
is by far the best. He opened the Scriptures. The Law, 
the Prophets and the Writings* were opened by him in 
reference to the Messiah, whom God had promised to 
them. He quoted the great Messianic prophecies. He 
must have turned to the Psalms and opened that blessed 
book in its many predictions. No doubt the different 
types as given in the tabernacle and its worship, the sacri- 
fices and offerings, the Passover and deliverance out of 
Egypt, the brazen serpent and other events were rehearsed 
by him. But the argument and reasoning was altogether 

*The Old Testament in Hebrew is divided into three parts. Thora, 
the Law; Nevijm, the Prophets; Kethuvim, the Writings — such as 
Proverbs, Psalms, Job, etc, 



298 



on the Person of the Messiah. He showed that the Scrip- 
tures teach that the promised Christ had to suffer and 
to die and rise again from the dead. Then after he had 
established this fact, independent of who that promised 
Messiah is, he pressed home another fact, namely, that 
Jesus whom he preached is that Christ. How powerful 
this reasoning must have been and under the Holy Spirit; 
it brought conviction to their hearts. Some believed. 
But the greater success was among the devout Greeks, 
such as had abandoned idolatry, who were attendants 
at the synagogue. A great multitude with many of the 
chief women believed. But many of these Greeks, as 
we learn from the Epistle to the Thessalonians, were con- 
verted directly from idolatry, "they turned to God from 
idols" (1 Thess. i:9). 

As servants the Apostle and his companions had perfect 
liberty to enter these synagogues to deliver the message. 
This liberty still belongs to all who are servants of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. The servants 01 Christ have perfect 
freedom to go wherever the Lord opens a door to preach 
the Gospel.* 

Another interesting fact is learned concerning the activ- 
ity of the apostle in Thessalonica from the two Epistles, 
which he addressed some time after to the Thessalonians. 
These were the first Epistles Paul wrote. From these we 
learn that the Apostle not only preached the Gospel, but also 
taught the Thessalonian believers prophetic Truths and 
emphasized the Second Coming of Christ and the events 
connected with it. In the Second Epistle he reminds them 
of his oral teaching. "Remember ye not that when I was 

*We emphasize this because there are some ultra separationists 
who form little sects, claiming to be the church. They forbid their 
preachers and teachers to enter church buildings of the different de- 
nominations and have even put some out of their fellowship because 
they preach the Gospel in a church. 



299 



yet with you I told you these things" (2 Thess. ii:5). He 
told them that they were to wait for His Son from heaven 
(1 Thess. i : 10) ; that there would be the falling away first 
and the man of sin be revealed before the day of the Lord 
could come (2 Thess. ii:3-7) as well as other truths. He 
did therefore not think, as it is said so often in our days, 
that dispensational truths were too deep for these new 
converts and babes in Christ. Nothing in God's Word 
is too deep for those who are born again and are indwelt 
by the Holy Spirit. This apostolic method is absolutely 
necessary to open up the Truth of God and lead newborn 
saints into it. One of the reasons of present day condi- 
tions among those who are no doubt saved, is the lack 
of dispensational teachings, which the Apostle Paul had so 
closely linked with the preaching of the Gospel in Thes- 
salonica. 

But the enemy was soon aroused in the city. Once 
more the acts of the enemy through the unbelieving Jews 
are recorded. He resorts to the same tactics as at Philippi 
to stir up the mob of the city. The rabble stormed the 
house of Jason, where the Apostle and Silas lodged. Their 
intention was to drag the two before the people. Failing 
to find these, they drew Jason and some other brethren 
before the Politarchs. Then the usual tumult ensued 
and the accusation was shouted out — "These that have 
turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom 
Jason has received, and these all do contrary to the decrees 
of Caesar, saying that there is another King, one Jesus." 
The enemy gave a testimony in this accusation to the 
power and influence of Christianity. The accusation that 
they opposed Caesar's decrees and claiming that another 
is King, namely Jesus, must have sprung from the fact 
that the dispensational teaching Paul gave had reached 
the people in a distorted way. Persecution set in, and from 
the Epistles to the Thessalonians we learn that the church 



there had much tribulation. So severe became the troubles 
that the Thessalonians were greatly disturbed when false 
teachers spread the report that they were facing the great 
tribulation. To set their minds at rest on this question 
the apostle wrote his second Epistle. The rulers here 
took security of Jason and the others and then let them 
go- 

II. The Gospel in Berea. 

And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night 
unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the 
Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that 
they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched 
the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore 
many of them believed; also of honourable women which were 
Greeks, and of men, not a few. But when the Jews of Thessa- 
lonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul 
at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people. And 
then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the 
sea: but Silas and Tlmotheus abode there still. (Verses 10-14). 

Paul and Silas were immediately sent away by night. 
What had become of Timothy? He is not at all men- 
tioned in connection with this visit to Thessalonica nor 
do we hear anything from him since he joined Paul and 
Silas at Lystra. However from this we must not con- 
clude that he had left them. There is sufficient evidence 
that he was with them in Thessalonica. • Both Epistles 
to the Thessalonians are from Paul and Sylvanus and 
Timotheus (1 Thess. i:l; 2 Thess. ii:l). This is con- 
clusive evidence that he was with Paul and Silas. (Silas 
is the same as Silvanus.) From these Epistles is also 
gained the information that Paul and most likely also 
his companions worked with their own hands (1 Thess. ii:9; 
2 Thess. iii:8). And now we find them in the City of Berea, 
some 40 miles from Thessalonica. This city had a mag- 
nificent situation at the foot of a mountain range. It 



301 



is still a good sized city, known by the name of Verna. 
As soon as they arrived in the city, they went to the syna- 
gogue and here they found evidently prepared ground. 
The Jews they found are described as "more noble than 
those in Thessalonica." The word noble does not mean, 
as some have said, a kind of aristocracy, but it consisted 
in a ready mind to receive and test by the Scriptures what « 
the messengers of the Lord had to say. They searched 
the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so. They 
were anxious to know the truth and in searching the Word 
they compared Scripture with Scripture. Alas! How 
little of this readiness of mind and searching the Scrip- 
tures one finds among the modern Jews. Many have re- 
jected their own Scriptures and the orthodox Jews are 
sadly ignorant of the oracles of God, while the Talmudical 
sayings, the oral traditions of the elders and the paraphrases 
have worked untold mischief. Only when the judicial 
blindness which rests upon them will be removed, the 
veil which is upon their hearts (2 Cor. iii:13-15) will they 
see Him of whom Moses and the Prophets spake. But 
the neglect of the Bible is as marked, if not greater, in 
nominal Christendom. May we search the Scriptures 
daily. 

Therefore, because they had a ready mind and searched 
the Scriptures, many believed. And to the Berean as- 
sembly there were also added Gentiles — "of honorable 
women which were Greeks, and of men not a few." • 

Satan, however, knows no rest. When an effectual 
door is opened, then the adversaries begin. News of Paul 
and Silas preaching in Berea reached Thessalonica and 
Satan brought his willing instruments, the unbelieving 
Jews, to Berea to stir up the people. It was thought best 
by the brethren, no doubt after prayer and direction from 
the Lord, to send Paul away. Silas and Timothy remained 
there. 



302 



III. Paul in Athens. 

And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and 
receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come 
to him with all speed, they departed. Now while Paul waited for 
them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city 
wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue 
with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily 
with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the 
Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. And some said, 
What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter 
forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and 
the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto 
Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof 
thou speakest, is . For thou bringest certain strange things to our 
ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all 
the Athenians, and strangers which were there, spent their time in 
nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.) (Verses 
15-21.) 

The exact route which Paul took is uncertain. Some 
of the noble brethren of Berea conducted him, showing 
thereby their courtesy as well as love for the servant of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. When they parted the Apostle 
sent through them a message to Silas and Timotheus to 
come to him with all speed. And now we behold our great 
Apostle in the wonderful city of Athens, the capital of 
Greece. Well has one said: "Paul at Athens, Paul the 
Jew of Tarsus in the city of Pericles and Demosthenes, 
of Sophocles and Euripides, of Socrates and Plato — that 
is a situation to which our pen cannot attempt to do jus- 
tice. Nor is it less difficult adequately to estimate the 
place of Athens in the Roman Empire. For at this date 
Athens was still the intellectual and artistic capital of 
the world. It was also a religious capital, for it was the 
stronghold of the Greek mythology, which was generally 
accepted as the most authentic account of the gods and 
their history.'' 

What a great city it must have been! What splen- 



303 



dour in art and architecture the eyes of the apostle must 
jave beheld! Here the great masterpieces of the greatest 
masters in architecture and sculpture were to be seen. 
And then the memories of the past and the great philo- 
sophical leaders and their different schools. 

Socrates, Plato and Aristotle had moved and taught 
in this city and the proud Athenians had erected upon 
their philosophies different schools. It was furthermore a 
great religious city, full of idols. Xenophon said of Athens: 

"The whole of it is one great altar, one sacrifice and 
votive offering to the gods." One artist tried to outdo 
the other with filling streets and temples with idol statues. 
But at the same time this great city was on the road to 
degeneracy. The Athenians lived on the glories of the 
past, both in art and philosophy. Of this verse 21 bears a 
striking witness. 

Paul in walking through the streets of the city and seeing 
it wholly given to idolatry was very much stirred in him; 
he was provoked. He did not halt to examine the temples 
and great masterworks. Behind the much praised master- 
pieces he beheld the corruption and wickedness of the 
human heart. 

Not alone was his own spirit provoked in him, but the 
Holy Spirit stirred him to witness against it. In the syna- 
gogues, first of all, he disputed with the Jews and the devout 
persons, Greeks who had turned away from idols, and 
in the market daily, he spoke with those that met him. 
The market was the Agora, an open square in the heart of 
the city. On its sides stood the public buildings what 
we would call City Hall, courthouses and the temples of 
different gods. Here also numerous shops were found, 
and, like in our country towns it was the place of buying 
and selling, for the people from the country came in with 
their wares. When business hours were over then the 
gossipers began. It was the place where new opinions 



304 



were expounded, where philosophers and traveling orators 
found a ready audience. From classical literature we learn 
that Socrates 450 years before moved in this very place 
and spoke to individuals and by severe questionings tried 
to destroy their self confidence and explain his philosophy. 
But in Paul a greater than Socrates was moving around 
the Agora, questioning and reasoning with all who would 
listen. Soon he came across some Epicureans and Stoics. 
The Epicureans were Materialists. They believed in a 
certain sense in gods, but held in their belief something 
like the atomic theory of present day science. They de- 
nied a life after death. The Stoics held a belief in a supreme 
being. They believed that in the Universe there existed 
an omnipresent spirit and of this spirit the human spirit 
was a part. The modern Pantheism was their creed. 
Yet they were religious. But they were extremely self- 
righteous and proud. The Stoics were much like the 
Pharisees, while the Epicureans represent the Sadducees 
of Judaism. With some of these philosophers the Apostle 
met. As they listened to him they termed him a babbler.* 
Others were more serious and charged him with being 
a setter forth of strange gods. For this very thing Socrates 
had been put to death. But we are not left in ignorance 
of what Paul preached. He knew but one theme, Jesus 
and the resurrection. 

So one day they took hold on him and brought him 
unto Areopagus. The Areopagus was a court correspond- 
ing to the Roman Senate. Here he had a representative 
audience of philosophers, leading citizens and a large num- 
ber of the gossipers, the folks who spent their time in noth- 
ing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Here 
was their opportunity. Standing before the Athenian 

*The Greek word is Spermalogos, translated, a seed picker. It . 
was a slang word used to describe the people who frequented the 
Agora and picked up, like birds, a little here and there. 



305 



Court Areopagus he is told in a polite way to defend him- 
self of the accusation made against him. "May we know 
what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest is? For 
thou bringest certain strange things to our ears; we would 
know therefore what those things mean." 

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye 
men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 
For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar 
with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom there- 
fore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that 
made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of 
heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 
Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any 
thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And 
hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the 
face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, 
and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, 
if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not 
far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have 
our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are 
also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, 
we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, 
or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this 
ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every 
where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he 
will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath 
ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that 
he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the 
resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will 
hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among 
them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among 
the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named 
Damaris, and others with them. 

The authorized version saying that he stood in the midst 
of Mars' hill is incorrect, it should be Areopagus. The 
address of the great apostle is one of unusual tact and 
wisdom. If he became to the Jews as a Jew, here he be- 
comes to the Grecian philosophers as a philosopher. He 



306 



makes use of both the Epicureal and Stoic philosophy 
as far as he can and avoids as much as possible what might 
stumble them. He starts with the belief in God as the 
omnipresent and immanent Creator, the Ruler and Keeper 
of the Universe. This he could back up by quotations 
from their own poets. After this ground work he speaks 
of judgment to come, and introduced Him who is the Judge, 
and the fact of His resurrection. 

Let us examine this discourse in its different parts. It 
has three parts. 

1. The Introduction (Verses 22-23). 

2. Who the Unknown God Is (Verses 24-29). 

3. The Message From God (Verses 30-31). 

1. The Introduction. He addressed them by the usual 
phrase, "Ye men of Athens." However, the charge he 
brings against them is not superstition. What he said 
was that the Athenians were a very religious people, given 
to the worship of many deities. It was a wise statement. 
It would be well if some Gospel preachers would profit 
by it. In preaching the Gospel to Romanists or to the 
Jews one does well not to antagonize their customs, but 
to avoid such controversies. Paul had found in Athens 
an altar with a strange inscription, "To the unknown God."* 
How this altar came to be in Athens is not known. It 
certainly bore witness to the fact that the true God was 
an unknown God to the Athenians. In this fact the Apostle 
found the true starting point. The human heart can set 
up gods and altars, beginning with the likeness of man, 
then of birds, quadrupeds and reptiles (Romans i:22), but 
the true God the human heart with its vain reasonings 
cannot discover. He can only be known from revelation. 
And Paul is now in the presence of this illustrious audience 

*Other ancient authorities speak of the existence of such altars in 
Athens. For instance, Philostratus and Lucian. 



307 



to make known the unknown God. "Him," he said, "I 
declare unto you." 

2. Who the Unknown God Is. He unfolds the truth 
of God as a Person. He is a personal God and as such 
He made the world and all things therein. This truth 
was not owned by the Epicureans or the Stoics. The 
Epicureans with their atomic theory, that the universe 
came together by itself, and the Stoics with their cold Pan- 
theism denied this fundamental truth. This bold announce- 
ment effectually set aside the philosophical babblings 
of these wise men, and these few words completely answer 
the modern Materialists and Pantheists. With the next 
sentence Paul lays bare the follies of paganism. As Lord 
of heaven and earth, because He is the Creator, He does 
not dwell in temples made with hands, nor can He be wor- 
shipped with men's hands as though he needed anything. 
In this statement he leaned towards the expressions used 
by the Epicureans, who declared that the divine nature 
is self sufficiency and needs nothing from us. But at the 
same time he rebukes the Stoics by showing that God 
giveth to all life, and breath and all things. He is the 
Preserver as well as the Creator. Next Paul shows that 
God created man and that all nations of men are made 
by Him of one blood. This was not believed in paganism. 
Polytheism was closely connected with the conception 
that the different races came into existence in different ways. 
The various races therefore had different racial gods. The 
Greeks had divided the world into two classes, Greeks and 
Barbarians. That they, the proud Greeks, had sprung 
from the same stock as the Barbarians must have humbled 
them greatly. It rebuked their national pride. All the 
Apostle said to the cultured Greeks, the great philosophers 
was elementary. The most simple truth about God and the 
origin of man could not be discovered by the keenest in- 
tellect. How all this bears out the divine statement in 



308 



Romans. "Because having known God they glorified 
Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain 
in their reasonings and their senseless heart was darkened. 
Professing themselves wise (philosophers) they became 
fools" (Rom. i:21-22). 

And furthermore Paul states that God is the governor 
over the nations. He has set the bounds of their habita- 
tions. The creature is to seek after God (not Lord as in 
the A. V.), if haply they might feel after Him and find 
Him, though He be not far from every one of us. All 
this, and that in Him we live and move and have our being, 
is in connection with God as Creator, that He is the giver 
of life and breath and all things. The creature is sus- 
tained by Him. Then in connection with this he quotes 
from their own poets. "As certain also of your poets 
have said, for we are also His offspring." Two Greek 
poets had spoken thus, Cleanthus and Aratus. Aratus 
was a Stoic. Thus he used the expressions of their own 
poets against themselves. These poets had more wisdom 
than the philosophers. In quoting this sentence from 
the poets Paul presses home the truth that man in his 
nature is the creation of God, created in the image of God. 
But where has man drifted to? Idolatry in its wicked 
foolishness is exposed. The Godhead has been made like 
unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's 
device. It uncovered the miserable folly into which their 
reasonings had led them. How significant that in cultured 
Athens the great Apostle had to come down to the most 
elementary things of the truth. 

3. The Message From God. Their sin of idolatry had 
been uncovered and now the apostle brings a message to 
their hearts. He calls the times of their boasted philoso- 
phies and progress " the times of this ignorance,'' and 
assures them that God has overlooked it, passed it by. But 
now He calls to repentance. 



309 



He alms at their conscience to awaken them to the sense 
of need to turn away from idols to the true God. God 
sends to all one message, be they Jew or Gentiles, Greeks or 
Barbarians, to repent. And then he states the reason. A 
day is appointed in which He will judge the world in right- 
eousness. The one through whom God will judge is a 
Man ordained by Him; then follows the declaration of the 
resurrection of this Man. The day of judgment here does 
not mean a universal judgment (a term not known in Scrip- 
ture) nor the great white throne judgment. The judgment 
here does not concern the dead at all, but it is the judgment 
of the habitable world. It is the judgment which will 
take place when the Man whom God raised from the dead, 
our Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time. His resur- 
rection is the assurance of it. 

But why did the apostle not press home the Gospel and 
speak of the forgiveness of sins? They were not ready for 
this. He talked to them as philosophers to stir up their 
consciences. 

As soon as they heard of the resurrection of the dead, it 
was enough for most of them. Some began to mock. They 
plainly proved that they were far from the condition to 
hear more of salvation. Others said, as Felix said later, 
we will hear thee again of this matter. But even this testi- 
mony was not in vain. Some clave unto him and believed. 
No doubt he took these apart and instructed them in God's 
way of salvation. Among them is mentioned a member of 
the Areopagus, Dionysius, the Areopagite. Tradition says 
that he became the leader of the Athenian Assembly. 



310 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

From Athens Paul journeyed to Corinth. This was the 
capital of Achaia and a short distance from Athens. It was 
a different city altogether. Corinth was then a great com- 
mercial center and had a cosmopolitan character. Here the 
Apostle settled down for one year and six months and Silas 
and Timotheus joined him here. It was one of the most 
immoral cities then in existence. The grossest immoralities 
were here practised in connection with religion. In dif- 
ferent ways this chapter is an interesting one. Besides 
working at his trade as tentmaker and preaching the Gospel, 
he wrote by inspiration in Corinth the two Epistles to the 
Thessalonians and the Epistle to the Romans. 

I. In Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla. His testimony 
and separation from the Jews (Verses 1-8). 
II. Encouragement from the Lord in a vision (Verses 
9-11). 

III. Paul and Gallio (Verses 12-17). 

IV. From Corinth to Ephesus and Antioch. The second 
journey ended (Verses 18-22). 

V. Establishing disciples in Galatia and Phrygia (Verse 23) . 

VI. Apollos, the Alexandrian (Verses 24-28). 

I. In Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla. His testimony 
and separation from the Jews. 

After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Cor- 
inth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately 
come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla (because that Claudius 
had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome), and came unto 
them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, 



311 



and wrought: (for by their occupation they were tentmakers). And 
he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the 
Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timotheus were come 
from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the 
Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves, 
and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your 
blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will 
go unto the Gentiles. And he departed thence, and entered into 
a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, 
whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus, the 
chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; 
and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. 
(Verses 1-8.) 

For the first time Aquila and his wife Priscilla are now 
mentioned. They appear as prominent characters in the 
Epistles. Paul was guided to them and abode with them, 
for like himself, they were tent-makers, an occupation 
which reminds one of the pilgrim character of the child 
of God. Aquila was a native of Pontus, who had settled in 
Rome. Both he and his wife Priscilla may have been be- 
lievers, when Paul met them, though the record speaks of 
him as a Jew. If they had become believers as a result of 
becoming acquainted with the Apostle the record of this 
fact would have appeared in this chapter. Perhaps they 
had heard and believed the Gospel in Rome. A persecution 
against the Jewish race had broken out in Rome and they 
with many others were banished from the city. Rome 
hated the Jews, many of whom had settled in the city. 
"Tiberius had sent some 4000 Roman Jews into an unhealthy 
country, in hope that the fever there would destroy them, 
and Claudius in the year 49 had banished them entirely 
from the capital of the Roman Empire. The Roman biog- 
rapher and historian Suetonius* in his life of Claudius 
gives the reason for the harsh edict of the Emperor Claudius 

*He lived during the reign of Hadrian in the beginning of the second 
century. 



312 



because " the Jews were constantly in tumult at the insti- 
gation of one Chrestus." The word " Chrestus " means 
undoubtedly " Christos," that is Christ. 

This interesting couple had established themselves in 
Corinth, and what a joy it must have been to the Apostle 
when he was led to their home. How sweet their fellow- 
ship must have been as they toiled together and spoke 
one to another about the Lord! From the same chapter 
we learn that after Paul's ministry had terminated they 
went to Ephesus (verse 19). From 1 Cor. xvi:19 we learn 
that they were still there when that epistle was written. 
But in writing to the Romans Paul says, "Greet Pris- 
cilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus " (Rom. xvi:3), 
so that they had wandered back to Rome and were in happy 
fellowship with the Roman assembly. 2 Tim. iv:19 tells 
us that once more they were back in Ephesus where Timothy 
had his abode. " Salute Prisca (an abbreviation of Pris- 
cilla) and Aquila." They were indeed strangers and pilgrims, 
but blessed to know that their wanderings were directed 
by the Lord. Priscilla is mostly mentioned before Aquila, 
from which we may learn that she, like other notable women 
of apostolic days, " labored for the Gospel." 

It is significant that here it is prominently mentioned that 
the Apostle worked at his trade as tent-maker. He had 
also done so in Thessalonica. " For ye remember, brethren, 
our labor and travail, for laboring night and day, because 
we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached 
unto you the Gospel of God " (1 Thess. ii:9; 2 Thess. iii:8). 
He labored at Ephesus. " Yea, ye yourselves know, that 
these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to 
them that were with me " (Acts xx:34). From this we learn 
that he also supported his fellowhelpers. Corinth was a 
wealthy city. He did not take anything whatever from the 
Corinthians, of which he reminds them in both of his Epistles. 
In this way he illustrated most blessedly the gift of Godj 



313 



the Gospel, without money and without price. What a 
contrast with the trafficking in spiritual things we behold 
about us in our days! And yet it is equally true that the 
Lord has ordained "that they which preach the Gospel 
should live by the Gospel" (1 Cor. ix:14). 

It seems that Paul followed the same method of work 
as he did in Thessalonica. First, he reasoned in the syna- 
gogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the 
Greeks (verse 4). This must have been altogether on Old 
Testament ground, showing the divine predictions concern- 
ing Christ. When Silas and Timotheus arrived, then he 
was greatly pressed in spirit and testified to the Jews more 
fully that Jesus is the Christ. That there was blessed fruit 
we learn from his epistles to the Corinthians. He himself 
baptized Crispus and Gaius and the household of Stephanas 
(1 Cor. i: 14-16). And he was with them in weakness, and 
in fear, and in much trembling. His speech was far dif- 
ferent from the one he had used in addressing the philos- 
ophers of Athens. "My speech was not with enticing words 
of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of 
power" (1 Cor. ii:3-4). His presence was base unto them. 
"Who in presence am base among you" (2 Cor. x:l). 
His bodily presence, these Corinthians said, is weak, and 
his speech contemptible (2 Cor. x:10). It is possible that 
he was greatly depressed. Silas and Timotheus brought 
him good news from the Thessalonians. "But now when 
Timotheus came from you unto us and brought us good 
tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good 
remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as 
we also to see you. Therefore, brethren, we were com- 
forted over you in all our affliction and distress by your 
faith" (1 Thess. iii:6-7). He must have written the first 
Epistle to the Thessalonians immediately after the arrival 
of Silas and Timotheus. They also may have brought to 
Paul the fellowship from the saints in Philippi, which may 



314 



have reached Thessalonica after Paul had left (Phil. iv:15- 
16). Opposition from the side of the Jews followed after 
the bold declaration that Jesus is the Christ. Not alone 
did they'reject the Gospel but they blasphemed. Alas! this 
blaspheming is still heard among the Jews, whenever the 
full claims of the Lord Jesus Christ are pressed upon their 
consciences. For the second time Paul declares that he 
will go to the Gentiles. 

Next we behold the Apostle of the Gentiles in the house 
of a devout Gentile named Justus. His house was next to 
the synagogue. Here the Lord's special blessing rested 
upon the testimony, for the chief ruler of the synagogue, 
Crispus, with his house, as well as many other Corinthians, 
believed on the Lord. His baptism as well as the others 
by the Apostle himself we have already mentioned. 

II. Encouragement from the Lord in a vision. 

Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not 
afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, 
and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people 
in this city. And he continued there a year and six months, teach- 
ing the word of God among them. (Verses 9-11.) 

It is blessed to see when this encouraging vision took 
place. Paul had been greatly depressed, and fear and trem- 
bling, as seen from the first Epistle to the Corinthians, had 
taken hold on him. The good news from Thessalonica had 
cheered him and the conversion of Crispus and the other 
Corinthians encouraged him much. But he needed a direct 
encouragement from the Lord. The Lord knew all which 
awaited His faithful servant. He knew of the plot to bring 
him before the judgment seat of the deputy of the province. 
The Lord wanted His servant to be without anxiety and 
assured him that no man could set on him or hurt him. 
He also told him that He had much people in Corinth. Per- 
haps if this vision had not been given to Paul at this time 



315 

he might have been tempted to leave Corinth, but now he 
felt authorized to continue for a year and six months. A 
strong assembly was gathered. As we do not write on the 
Corinthian Epistles we cannot follow the most interesting 
theme of the condition of the Corinthian church. But the 
Epistles mention that the majority of believers were com- 
posed of the poorer class. Of another class were Crispus, 
the once chief ruler of the synagogue, Stephanas and Gaius, 
who were given to hospitality and therefore must have 
been people of means; Chloe, a lady who had many serv- 
ants; Erastus, who held a responsible position, and others. 
Then there were present diversities of gifts, the gift of 
tongues being prominent and responsible for certain dis- 
orders. After the Apostle had left, divisions came in and 
the leaven of vainglory and worldliness, even to immoral- 
ities, got in amongst them and did its dreadful work. 

m. Paul and Gallic 

And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made in- 
surrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the 
judgment seat, saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship 
God contrary to the law. And when Paul was now about to open 
his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong 
or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear 
with you: But if it be a question of words and names, and of 
your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. And 
he drave them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took 
Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before 
the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things. 
(Verses 12-17.) 

Gallio was deputy, or proconsul of Achaia. This proves 
the accuracy of the record before us. Achaia up to the 
year 44 was united to the province of Macedonia. But 
the Emperor Claudius restored Achaia as a province and it 
had then its own proconsul. We know from Roman his- 
torians a good deal of the personality of Gallio. " He came 



316 



from a Spanish family which had won for itself a distin- 
guished place in Roman letters and society. Annaeus 
Seneca, his father, was a well known rhetorician, Seneca 
the Stoic and tutor of Nero was his brother, and the poet 
Lucan his nephew. His own name was originally M. 
Annaeus Novatus, but having been adopted by Lucius 
Junius Gallio he also adopted his name. He had attained 
the highest office in the state, the consulship. But he was 
best known by his amiable character; "sweet Gallio," 
Statius calls him, and Seneca speaks of him "as one who 
could not be loved enough." 

Before this man the Jews brought Paul, accusing him 
that he persuades men to worship God contrary to law. 
The Satanic attempt, however, laid not so much in the 
accusation as in the insurrection these Jews made. The 
whole Jewish community was stirred up by them to impress 
Gallio with the seriousness of the offence. And the accusa- 
tion itself was couched in deceptive terms. It reads as if 
Paul had done something against the Roman law. This 
is exactly what they meant to do, namely, to constitute 
the Apostle a transgressor of the law of the Roman Em- 
pire. But Gallio was too keen for them. He at once 
recognized the deception. It was their own Jewish law 
about which they were disturbed. So without even listen- 
ing to Paul, what he had to say for himself, he settled the 
case at once by a few well chosen words and then drove 
them out of the court. Then the Greeks who had wit- 
nessed the whole scene turned against the Jews. They 
had their spokesman in Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the 
synagogue. He must have taken the place of Crispus, 
who had believed on the Lord. Upon him the Greeks 
fell and gave him a good beating. And Gallio had nothing 
to say to this. Sosthenes deserved all he got. 

If the Sosthenes who is mentioned in the opening verse 
of the first Epistle of the Corinthians is the same, then 



317 



he profited immensely by his experience. Paul addresses 
him as a brother. We believe he is the same person, for 
the Grace of God delights to take up such characters and 
show in them what Grace can do. 

IV. From Corinth to Ephesus, Jerusalem, and Antioch. 
The second journey ended. 

And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took 
his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with 
him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea, for 
he had a vow. And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but 
he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 
When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented 
not; but bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this 
feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if 
God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. And when he had landed 
at Cesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to 
Antioch. (Verses 18-22.) 

The great Apostle was not in a hurry to leave Corinth; 
he tarried there a good while. "He that believeth shall 
not make haste." When the Lord's own time arrived he 
took his leave of the brethren and sailed from the port 
of Corinth, Cenchrea, for Syria. The only companions men- 
tioned are Priscilla and Aquila. The interesting item is 
the statement concerning the vow and the cutting of the 
hair. To whom does it refer? Did Aquila or Paul make 
the vow? Many able expositors believe that Aquila is 
meant, while others contend that it was Paul who had 
made the vow. Those who believe that Aquila is in view, 
call attention to the fact that the name of his wife Priscilla 
precedes his name and that in this way Aquila is marked 
out as the person who made the vow. But if the reader 
turns to Rom. xvi:3 and 2 Tim. iv:19, he will find that 
Priscilla is named first, so that this argument does not hold 
good. Inasmuch as the Apostle Paul is the prominent 
figure in the account, the statement must refer to him. 
Every vow made a visit to the temple in Jerusalem neces- 



318 



sary (Numbers xi:l-21). But we learn that Aquila re- 
mained in Ephesus and did not go to Jerusalem. It is not 
necessary to charge The Apostle on account of this vow 
with an out and out violation of the great truths so fully 
taught in the Epistle to the Galatians. To the Jews he 
became as a Jew and under the law (1 Cor. ix:19-23); and 
no doubt he made certain concessions in this direction. 
Some Christians seem to look upon the great Apostle as 
almost infallible in his actions and repudiate the thought 
that he could have made a mistake. The great Epistles he 
wrote are infallible, for the Holy Spirit is the author of 
them, but no such perfection can be claimed for his Chris- 
tian life and walk. He too was "a man of like passions" 
and we shall find how faithfully and yet how tenderly the 
Holy Spirit reveals in the next chapters his actions in self 
will. 

Ephesus, which was closed by divine authority (xvi:6) 
in the beginning of this journey, is now reached by the 
Apostle. It was a fine city known not only by its great com- 
merce and as the capital of the Roman province Asia, but 
also by the great temple of Artemis. Models of this temple 
were made to be carried along for a charm or to be placed 
in houses (see xix:24). Ephesus had a very large Jewish 
population. They were wealthy and influential. The 
Jewish historian Josephus mentions the fact that the Roman 
government, as well as the citizens of Ephesus, accorded 
to them special privileges in the free observance of their 
customs. Paul soon entered the synagogue and reasoned 
with the Jews. The request to stay longer was denied 
by him. We surely see haste here instead of calmness 
and waiting on the Lord. Having not consented to remain, 
he bade them farewell, promising them to return, if it be 
God's will. The reason given for his haste was his desire 
to reach Jersualem to keep this feast, which was Pentecost. 
Why he did not stay with such an opportunity and then 



319 



telling the Jews of the absolute necessity of visiting Jerusa- 
lem is indeed strange. What follows reveals still greater 
haste with no record at all of what he did in Jerusalem or 
what was accomplished by him. He sailed from Ephesus, 
landed at Cesarea and went up, which means Jerusalem, 
he saluted the church and went down to Antioch. Thus 
ended the second missionary journey. Perhaps an intense 
love for his brethren in Jerusalem, his deep yearning for 
them, led him in this course. 

V. Establishing disciples in Galatia and Phrygia. 

And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went 
over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening 
all the disciples. (Verse 23.) 

This work was next laid upon his heart and with it the 
third journey began. The account is very brief but if we 
read the Epistle to the Galatians we can well understand 
how needful and important this work was. Judaizing 
teachers had invaded the churches which had been founded 
in large numbers. Their teaching was of the most perni- 
cious kind. They taught the observance of the law and 
its works as being absolutely necessary for salvation. They 
perverted the Gospel of Grace and preached that Gospel 
which had the divine anathema upon it, because it sets 
aside that blessed finished work of Christ on the Cross. 
"For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead 
in vain" (Gal. ii:21). "Christ is become of no effect unto 
you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen 
from grace" (Gal. iv:4). Their teaching was extremely 
bold, for they repeated the false teaching which had been 
brought before the council in Jerusalem, "except ye be 
circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved" 
(Acts xv:l). At the same time they had impeached the 
apostolic authority of Paul. The Galatian Christians, 
who had been so loving and tender towards Paul, so that if 



320 



it had been possible they would have plucked out their own 
eyes to give them to the apostle, the same people were 
now being moved against Paul and the Gospel he had 
preached unto them. The Epistle to the Galatians was 
undoubtedly written during the Apostle's second visit 
to Ephesus and it shows that perhaps immediately after 
the recorded visit in this chapter the judaizing element in- 
creased in strength. Most likely the news of the grave 
danger which was then threatening the Galatian churches 
had reached him in Antioch. 

VI. Apollos the Alexandrian. 

And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an elo- 
quent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This 
man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in 
the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things concerning 
Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak 
boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had 
heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way 
of God more perfectly. And when he was disposed to pass into 
Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: 
who when he was come, helped them much which had believed 
through grace: For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that pub- 
licly, shewing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ. (Verses 
24-28.) 

This is an extremely beautiful incident. A new preacher 
appeared among the Jews in Ephesus, Apollos the Alex- 
andrian. He is described as an eloquent man and mighty 
in the Scriptures. In Alexandria, Philo, the great Hellen- 
istic Jewish Philosopher, had flourished. He was born 
about 20 B. C. and died after the year 40 A. D. He intro- 
duced Platonism into Judaism. In all probability Apollos 
was one of his disciples, but he accepted that which Philo 
did not believe. He had come most likely in touch with 
disciples of John the Baptist and had been baptized with 
John's baptism unto repentance. He knew that Jesus is 
the Messiah, knew the facts of His earthly life and the 



321 



miracles He did. Of the meaning of His death and resur- 
rection Apollos knew nothing, nor had he any knowledge 
of the Holy Spirit. The entire truth of the Gospel of 
Grace was unknown to Him. The text in the authorized 
version that he " taught diligently the things of the Lord" 
is incorrect. The correct translation is "he taught dili- 
gently the things concerning Jesus." Yet this little know- 
ledge he had concerning Him who had appeared in the 
midst of His people, in whom he believed as the Messiah 
and King of Israel, set his soul on fire. With his great 
knowledge in the Scriptures, such as the learned Jews 
possess, he spoke boldly in the synagogue, proving, no 
doubt, from the Law and the Prophets, that Jesus is the 
Messiah. Yet how limited was his message. What diffi- 
culties must have arisen in his mind! What questions, 
which he could not answer! Nearly twenty years had 
gone since that blessed Person, in whom he believed, had 
disappeared, and that Kingdom which Jewish hope and 
expectation associates with the King Messiah had not 
been manifested, and the promises given through the Prophets 
had not found their fulfilment. Yet he continued to speak 
boldly concerning the things of Jesus. 

But God did not leave him long in this condition. The 
Lord had guided him to Ephesus, and the same Lord had 
arranged it so that Priscilla and Aquila remained in Ephe- 
sus. He had a service for them. Both Priscilla and Aquila 
listened to him and must have been made glad by the 
courageous testimony of Apollos. They felt at once how 
little he really knew of the Lord, and they did not turn 
away from him, but sought him out and took him in to 
expound to him the way of God more perfectly. And 
the great, eloquent preacher on whose lips hung the multi- 
tudes, was humble enough to sit at the feet of a tent-maker 
and his wife and receive instructions from them. How 
little of the patience of Aquila and Priscilla and the hu- 



322 



mility of Apollos we see in our days! If some humble 
Christian would go now to some great and eloquent preacher 
to show him the way of God more perfectly, what answer 
would he receive? And how often towards those who are 
inferior in spiritual knowledge those who are well taught 
show but little patience. Instead of condemning such who 
are ignorant of the truth we should seek them out in a 
loving way and lead them on. Priscilla was without question 
of greater intelligence than Aquila and it was not out of 
her sphere at all to impart instruction unto Apollos. 

His deeper knowledge of the Lord, the truth of His death 
on the cross, His presence in Glory at the right hand of 
God closed his ministry in Ephesus. The Jews in large 
numbers may listen to an eloquent man, even if he proves 
from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah, but the 
preaching of the cross is the great stumbling block. It 
is still so in our day. 

Apollos went to Corinth and became a great blessing 
to the assembly there. Mightily he convinced the Jews, 
publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the 
Christ. What a blessed factor he became in the Corinthian 
church is seen from the testimony of the Holy Spirit through 
Paul in the first Epistle to the Corinthians. "I have planted, 
Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" (1 Cor. iii:6). 
But there likewise was a faction of the Christians calling 
themselves after this great preacher, " I am of Apollos. " 
Later he left Corinth and returned to Ephesus and was 
very reluctant to return to Corinth, though Paul had in- 
vited him to do so. "As touching our brother Apollos, 
I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren; 
but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will 
come when he shall have convenient time" (1 Cor. xvi:12). 
As he was such an humble man, it is probable that he re- 
fused to return for fear of attracting the people to himself, 
as it had been the case already. 



323 



CHAPTER XIX. 

The chapter which we have reached is as interesting as 
it is important. In the foreground stands another mani- 
festation of the Holy Spirit, when He came upon the twelve 
disciples of John and they spake with tongues. This is 
followed by extraordinary blessings and the manifesta- 
tion of the power of God and the power of Satan. The 
acts of the Holy Spirit and of Satan are very pronounced 
in this chapter. Then the chapter is important because 
Paul's first step towards Jerusalem is recorded. We divide 
the chapter in five parts. 

I. The second visit of Paul to Ephesus. The twelve 
disciples of John (Verses 1-7). 

II. The Apostle's continued labors. The separation 
of the disciples. The Province Asia evangelized (Verses 
8-10). 

III. The Power of God and the Power of Satan (Verses 
11-20). 

IV. Paul plans to go to Jerusalem and to visit Rome. 

(Verses 21-22). 

V. The opposition and riot at Ephesus. (Verses 23-41.) 

I. The second visit of Paul to Ephesus. The twelve 
disciples of John. 

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul 
having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus; and find- 
ing certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy 
Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so 
much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto 
them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto 
John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the 
baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should 



324 

believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ 
Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of 
the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, 
the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and 
prophesied. And all the men were about twelve. (Verses 1-7.) 

Once more Paul appears in Ephesus and is brought now 
in touch with certain disciples. Some have taken them to 
have been the fruit of Apollos' labors in Ephesus. If 
that had been the case and Apollos knew them, he certainly 
would have imparted unto them the knowledge his own 
soul so richly enjoyed through the instructions of the godly 
Priscilla and Aquila. As Ephesus was a large city it is 
not surprising that the twelve disciples were not known 
to Paul during his first and very brief visit, nor to Priscilla 
and Aquila. When Paul met these disciples he must have 
been impressed with some lack in them. Perhaps the 
joy and peace which should characterize every true Chris- 
tian was completely absent in them and therefore the 
Apostle asked at once a very vital and fundamental ques- 
tion: "Have ye received the Holy Spirit since ye believed ?" 
But the word "since" is mistranslated and must be changed 
into "when." This unfortunate translation has done a 
great deal of mischief. Upon this little word "since" 
certain preachers and Bible teachers have built their un- 
scriptural theory that the Holy Spirit- must be definitely 
received in a second experience, which they either term a 
"second blessing" — "baptism of the Holy Spirit," or by some 
other name. According to these teachers a person may 
be a Christian, a true disciple, saved by Grace and yet 
be entirely destitute of the Holy Spirit. The word "since" 
is always emphasized by these men. Have ye received 
the Holy Spirit since ye believed? You must get the 
Holy Spirit after you have believed and accepted the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Then a lot of rules how to surrender and 
to receive the Holy Spirit are given. All this is wrong. 



325 



If the word "when" were put in, this whole misconception 
would disappear. 

Paul makes the gift of the Spirit a test of true disciple- 
ship. If they were true believers they received the Holy 
Spirit when they believed, that is when they accepted 
the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. If they did not 
receive the Holy Spirit then it is an evidence that they did 
not believe. "Now if any man have not the Spirit of 
Christ, he is none of His" (Rom. viii:9). 

But were these disciples whom Paul met Christian dis- 
ciples? Not at all. They knew nothing whatever of 
Christianity. Their knowledge about the person of Christ 
was more limited than the knowledge which Apollos pos- 
sessed. The questions put by the Apostle brings out the 
fact that they knew nothing whatever of the gift of the 
Holy Spirit and that they had been baptized with John's 
baptism unto repentance. This is how far their creed 
went: of Christ and His great redemption work they knew 
nothing whatever. Though the record does not give an 
account of it Paul must have preached Christ and the 
Gospel to those twelve disciples. Then they believed 
and were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.* After 
the laying on of hands the Holy Spirit came on them and 
they spake with tongues and prophesied. These were the 
outward signs. They were then sealed by the Holy Spirit 
and added by Him as members to the body of Christ, the 
church. 

This is the last time in this book that we read that the 
Holy Spirit was given and that they spoke with tongues. 
It is well to review the few times reported in this historical 
book, when the Holy Spirit was communicated to the 
different companies of believers. 

*This is the only case of rebaptism recorded in Acts. Notice that 
it was not Christian baptism with which they had been previously 
baptized in water. 



326 



1. On the day of Pentecost. The one hundred and 
twenty were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with 
other tongues. No laying on of hands is mentioned here. 
They were all Jews who received the Holy Spirit on that 
day (Acts ii). 

2. Peter and John went to Samaria. The Samaritans 
had believed and had been baptized in the name of the 
Lord Jesus, but the Holy Spirit had not been given to 
them. The reason was explained by us in the exposition 
of Chapter viii. Peter and John laid their hands on them 
and they received the Holy Spirit. Nothing is said that 
they prophesied or spoke in tongues. 

3. While Peter preached the Gospel to Cornelius and 
his house the Holy Spirit fell on them which heard the 
Word. They spoke with tongues and praised God (Acts x). 

4. The last record in our present chapter. Jews in the 
dispersion receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, 
by the Apostle Paul. In every case it is the same Holy 
Spirit, the promise of the Father, who came down from 
heaven on the day of Pentecost. It would be incorrect 
to say that He came anew from heaven, when the Samari- 
tans, the Gentiles and the twelve disciples received Him. 
He came to this earth on the day of Pentecost and no other 

* coming was necessary. It is unscriptural to speak of 
"another outpouring" of the Holy Spirit or pray for a new 
baptism with the Spirit. But the different records show 
different manifestations of the same Spirit upon different 
groups of people, Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles. 

That all this is not to be repeated is obvious. Apostles 
communicated the Spirit by laying on of hands. There 
_are no more apostles and apostolic authority, unless 
,some one believes in that ridiculous, if not evil, doctrine of 
apostolic succession. That Paul here laid on his hands 
and the Holy Spirit was given to these twelve men just 
as the Samaritans received the Spirit after the laying on of 



327 



hands of Peter and John, proved him to be an Apostle just 
as much as they. This is striking, for the enemies of Paul, 
the judaizing teachers, which were corrupting the Galatian 
churches, vigorously denied the authority of the Apostle 
Paul. 

But the Holy Spirit is no longer communicated in this 
extraordinary way, but by the hearing of faith, and every 
child of God possesses Him as the indwelling guest. Our 
endeavor is not to seek more of Him, but to let Him take 
possession of us, for which He has come to our hearts when 
we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. To seek the so- 
called "gift of tongues" as a sign that we have the Holy 
Spirit, is a morbid condition and a dangerous desire. 

II. The Apostle's continued labors. The separation 
of the disciples. The province of Asia evangelized. 

And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space 
of three months, disputing and persuading as to the things con- 
cerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and 
believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he 
departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in 
the school of one Tyrannus. And this continued by the space of 
two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of 
the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. (Verses 8-10). 

Paul continued to labor in the synagogue, but matters 
had now to reach a climax. For three months he disputed 
with the Jews The great theme was the Kingdom of God, 
which means more than the teaching concerning that King- 
dom, which is promised to Israel and which some day will 
be established. No doubt it entered largely into the dis- 
putings of the Apostle with the Jews, but it was not con- 
fined to that phase of the Kingdom. Jews who believe 
their own Scriptures and still hold to the Jewish hope are 
quite willing to listen to arguments touching the realiza- 
tion of this hope; but if the Kingdom of God is preached 



which is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, 
and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. xiv:17) they oppose this 
and harden their hearts. This deeper message of the 
Gospel was not received by the multitude of Jews. Some 
hardened themselves and were disobedient and spoke 
evil of that way. Separation from this unbelieving and 
disobedient mass was the next step. In this way the assem- 
bly in Ephesus was formed. A number of brethren were 
also with Paul in Ephesus. His own hands ministered 
unto his own necessities and to them that were with him 
(Acts xx:34). The same information we gain from the 
Epistle to the Galatians, which Paul wrote from Ephesus 
with his own hand (Gal. i:2). These companions of Paul 
were Timotheus and Erastus, Gaius and Aristarchus, two 
brethren of Thessalonica, Titus, Tychicus and Trophimus 
(Acts xix:22, 29; Acts xx:4; 2 Cor. vii:6). Then there 
were Aquila and Priscilla and a number of converts. The 
first fruit was undoubtedly Epenetus* (Rom. xvi:5), also 
Onesiphorus and his house (2 Tim. i:16), Hymenaeus, 
Alexander, Phygellus and Hermogenes of whose bad record 
we read in 1 Tim. i:20 and 2 Tim. i:15. The assembly 
had elders and of them and the Apostle's faithful labors we 
shall read more in the next chapter. The record here tells 
us that the work was continued in the school of one Ty- 
rannus, some large building obtained for that purpose. 
Most likely the assembly itself met elsewhere. Then the 
entire province of Asia of which Ephesus was the capital 
heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jew and Greeks. 
A blessed work of evangelization was done. 

III. The power of God and the power of Satan. 

And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul. So 
that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or 

*Correct reading is "who is first fruits of Asia unto Christ" not 
Achaia as in the A. V. 



329 



aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits 
went out of them. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, 
took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name 
of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul 
preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and 
chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and 
said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the 
man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame both 
of them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that 
house naked and wounded. And this was known to all the Jews and 
Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the 
name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed 
came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also 
which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned 
them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found 
it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God 
and prevailed. (Verses 11-20.) 

Ephesus was a stronghold of Satan. Here many evil 
things both superstitious and satanic were practised. Books 
containing formula for sorcery and other ungodly and for- 
bidden arts were plentiful in that city. The Jews them- 
selves were contaminated with these evil practices. God 
was pleased to perform special miracles by the hands of 
Paul. Handkerchiefs and aprons he had used healed 
the sick and drove out demons. Rationalists and higher 
critics explain these miracles as being simply supersti- 
tions. "But in this and similar narratives Christian faith 
finds no difficulty whatever. All miraculous working 
is an exertion of the direct power of God; a suspension 
by Him of His ordinary laws; and whether He will use 
any instrument in doing this, or what instrument, must depend 
altogether on His own purpose in the miracle — the effect 
to be produced on the recipients, beholders, or bearers."* 
God wanted to bear witness to His messenger and His 
message that they were of Him and therefore He manifested 



*Greek New Testament. — Alford. 



330 



here His extraordinary power. But this power was not 
in Paul nor were such manifestations to continue. They 
ceased. That which claims to be a continuation in the 
Romish church (relics, most of them spurious, for which 
claim is made that they possess miraculous powers) is 
nothing but superstition and fanaticism. Equally fanatical 
are the present day claims of a certain class of Christians, 
that the apostolic pentecostal gifts are being restored. 
It is a foolish thing, to say the least, if some of these mis- 
guided people imitate what is recorded here in connection 
with the great Apostle, and send handkerchiefs about, 
claiming that they actually have cured sickness. 

That this manifestation of the power of God in this most 
remarkable way was likewise needed to bring to naught 
the evil powers of darkness, which were so active in Ephe- 
sus, is revealed in what follows. Jewish instruments of 
Satan in the person of the sons of Sceva, a chief priest, 
men who were sorcerers and dealt in magic, were in Ephe- 
sus. This is the fourth time we read of such satanic instru- 
ments. The first was Simon Magus. This subtle in- 
strument claimed to be converted and tried to buy the 
power of the Holy Spirit with money. Elymas, or Bar 
Jesus, was the second, and he opposed the Gospel, going 
forth to the Gentiles, a type, as we pointed out in our ex- 
position, of the Jewish nation in their opposition and blind- 
ness. In Philippi a damsel with the spirit of Python had 
cried after Paul and through her the enemy had tried his 
work. The seven sons of Sceva tried to imitate the power 
of God as it was manifested through Paul; but they knew 
not the Lord Jesus Christ. They were professional ex- 
orcists travelling from place to place and preaching the 
expulsion of evil spirits. All kinds of mysterious things 
were used by these exorcists; the use of different names 
of God in driving out the evil spirits were especially resorted 
to. The so-called Kabbala and many parts of the Talmud 



331 

are full of these mysterious things of magic. In some 
cases no doubt there was reality, as we learn from Matthew 
xii:27. 

The sons of Sceva used the name of Jesus over a man 
who had an evil spirit. "We adjure you by Jesus, whom 
Paul preaches." They used simply the name of Jesus and 
avoided the name Lord. The effect was disastrous. The 
demon acknowledged that he knew Jesus and Paul, but 
"who are ye?" The man with fury, energized by the 
superhuman strength of the demon, overcame the two, tore 
their clothes so that naked and wounded they had to flee 
from the house. The demon turned against them. A worse 
fate will some day befall those, who use the name, which 
is above every other name, without being His. "Many will 
say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied 
in Thy Name? and in Thy Name cast out demons? and 
in Thy Name done many wonderful works? And then 
will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from 
Me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew xii:22-23). 

The punishment which had fallen upon the sons of Sceva 
made a profound impression upon the whole city and that 
blessed name which is above every other name was magnified. 
Many of those who had believed seemed to have been 
secretly attached to these curious arts — that is, magical 
things. They were deeply convicted of this sin and then 
confessed the evil deeds of darkness. But more than 
that, they brought their parchments and rolls which con- 
tained the magical formulas, incantations and adjura- 
tions. These formulas and written amulets had at that 
time a world-wide reputation and were known by the name 
"Ephesia gramata" — the Ephesian letters. They brought 
them together- and burned them before all men. Some eight 
thousand dollars' worth of manuscripts was quickly con- 
sumed by the flames. A greater fire would result if the evil 
books, books on Occultism, Spiritualism, especially that 



332 

wicked work, which is placed alongside the Bible, the text- 
book of "Christian Science" — Science and Health, and others 
were piled up to be burned. But such a day is coming 
when the fire shall consume these evil works of darkness. 
A great victory had been gained over the power of Satan. 
"So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed." 

IV. Paul Plans to go to Jerusalem and visit Rome. 

After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, 
when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jeru- 
salem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. So 
he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, 
Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. 
(Verses 21-22.) 

We reach now a critical point in the labors of the great 
Apostle. The 21st verse marks an important change, 
which introduces us to the last stage of the recorded acts 
of Paul in this historical account. Rome is the goal, which 
looms up before him. "I must also see Rome." And 
he saw Rome, but not in the way as he purposed in his 
spirit, but as the prisoner of the Lord. His journey begins 
now towards that great city and at the close of the book we 
find him there a prisoner, "preaching the Kingdom of God, 
and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus 
Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him." The 
story of his journey to Jerusalem, a journey in which he 
perseveres though repeatedly warned by the Spirit of God, 
his arrest in Jerusalem, his trials and addresses before the 
Jews, before Felix, Festus and King Agrippa, his voyage to 
Rome and shipwreck and arrival in Rome are the contents 
of the remaining part of our book. The record of great vic- 
tories of the Gospel and its spread by the Apostle to the 
Gentiles comes suddenly to an end and we see that Gospel 
he preached opposed by Judaism and legalism as well as 
by the great world-power Rome. The great apostle with 



333 



his God-given, heavenly-revealed Gospel of the Glory is 
shut up in Rome. It is nothing less than a great prophecy 
of what was to happen to that Gospel. 

A recent writer on the Book of Acts calls this part of the 
book, "the passing and passion of Paul.' , He sees a corres- 
pondency between the Lord and Paul. Like our Lord, Paul 
was accused by the Jews and delivered by them into the 
hands of the Gentiles. The Lord had said of Paul, "I will 
show him how great things he must suffer for my name's 
sake" (Acts ix:16). He had sufferings and afflictions in 
many ways throughout the years of his great activity. In 
his second epistle to the Corinthians he rehearses these. 
"Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I 
suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep. 
In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, 
in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, 
in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the 
sea, in perils among false brethren. In weariness and pain- 
fulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings 
often, in cold and nakedness" (2 Cor. xi:24-27). 

But now the time of his special sufferings were drawing 
near. Of this fact the Holy Spirit testified directly (Acts 
xx:23; xxi:ll.) 

The question has often been raised how the purposing of 
Paul in the spirit to go again to Jerusalem is to be under- 
stood. Is the word "spirit" to be written with a capital "S" 
or not? In other words, did he purpose in the Spirit of God 
after prolonged prayer, to go up to Jerusalem? Did the 
Holy Spirit guide him to take up to the city of his fathers the 
contributions from Achaia and Macedonia for the poor 
saints? (Romans xv:25-26). It could not have been the 
Spirit of God who prompted him to go once more to Jeru- 
salem, for we find that during the journey the Holy Spirit 
warned him a number of times not to go to Jerusalem. These 



warnings were not heeded, but they prove conclusively that 
Paul purposed in his own spirit. He was called to evangelize; 
to continue to preach the glorious Gospel, and it was a turn- 
ing aside from the great ministry committed unto him. 
But behind his burning desire to go up to Jerusalem stood the 
mighty constraint of love for his own beloved brethren. 
How he did love them and how his heart, filled with the 
love of God, yearned over them! This love is so fully 
expressed in his epistle to the Romans. "I say the truth in 
Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness 
in the Holy Spirit, that I have great heaviness and contin- 
ual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were 
accursed (or separated) from Christ for my brethren, my kins- 
men according to the flesh" (Rom. ix:l-2). "Brethren, my 
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they 
might be saved" (Rom. x:l). This holy love and courage 
prompted him to say, when once more his brethren had 
besought him by the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem, 
"What mean ye to weep and break my heart? for I am 
ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem 
for the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts xxi:13). And the Lord 
in His mercy, who knows the motives of the heart, over-ruled 
the error of His servant. Later from the prison in Rome, 
Paul could write in his joyous epistle to the Philippians. 
" But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the 
things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto 
the furtherance of the Gospel; so that my bonds in Christ 
are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places" 
(Phil, i: 12-13). All things, even our mistakes, must work 
together for good. Before we can follow Paul on his last 
journey to Jerusalem, we have to consider the account of 
the riot which took place in Ephesus. 

V, The opposition and the riot at Ephesus. 

And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. 
For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made 



335 



silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; 
whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and 
said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. More- 
over ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost through- 
out all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much peo- 
ple, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands. So 
that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at naught; but 
also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, 
and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the 
world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were 
full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great Diana of the Ephesians. 
And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught 
Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in 
travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. And when 
Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered 
him not. And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, 
sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself 
into the theatre. Some therefore cried one thing, and some an- 
other: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not 
wherefore they were come together. And they drew Alexander 
out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexan- 
der beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto 
the people. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one 
voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of 
the Ephesians. And when the townclerk had appeased the people, 
he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not 
how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great 
goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? 
Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought 
to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. For ye have brought hither 
these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphem- 
ers of your goddess. Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen 
which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is 
open and there are deputies: let them implead one another. But 
if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be de- 
termined in a lawful assembly. For we are in danger to be called 
in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause whereby 
we may give an account of this concourse. And when he had 
thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. (Verses 23-41.) 

The Ephesian Gentiles became greatly agitated through 
the influence of the prince of the power of the air, the spirit 



336 



of darkness, which worked in them (Ephes. ii:2). The 
result was the great riot. 

"Fully to appreciate the incident, a more detailed account 
of Ephesus is required. At Ephesus there met together 
four authorities: 1. The supreme authority of Rome rep- 
resented by the proconsul. For judicial purposes the prov- 
inces were divided into shires (conventus), each with its 
assize town. In the province Asia Ephesus was the chief 
assize town; and accordingly court days (verse 38) were 
kept there, when justice was administered by the pro-consul. 
2. The city itself, like Athens, was ' free ' and it retained 
its Greek constitution, which was democratic in form. There 
was a Senate, to which power gravitated in imperial times. 
But nominally Ephesus was still governed by the Demos or 
People (verse 30) assembled in their Ecclesia or assembly. 

"An Ecclesia was held three times a month and these 
meetings were the regular or ordinary assemblies (verse 32), 
but an extraordinary assembly could be convened as on the 
present occasion. Where, as in cities of the empire, the pow- 
ers of such an assembly were limited to purely domestic 
and formal matters, the substantial authority would fall 
into the hands of its secretary — the official who summoned 
and dismissed the assembly (verse 41), kept the minutes 
and acted as chairman. Thus the secretary of the assembly 
or townclerk (verse 35), would naturally' be one of the mag- 
nates of the city; and this we find to have been the case from 
the inscriptions, in which the secretary often appears as also 
holding the highest office, such as the Asiarchate. 

"3. The Asiarchate was a provincial office. Each prov- 
ince had a council composed of delegates from the chief 
cities. Their chief business was the supervision of the pro- 
vincial worship of the emperor, a cult, which furnished, 
besides a test of royalty, a bond of unity for the empire. A 
temple and altar to Rome and the emperor were erected in 
some city and the common worship of the province was eel- 



337 



ebrated there with games and festivals. The president of 
the common council acted as high priest and presided over 
these festivities and games, which were given at his expense. 
In return, he enjoyed the title of 4 Ruler of the province ' — 
Asiarch (the one over the province Asia), Galatarch — over 
Galatia, etc. The Asiarchs of verse 31, then, were such high 
priests of the aristocracy and plutocracy of Asia. There is 
a difficulty in the use of the plural, for as a rule there was only 
one Ruler for a province. It has been suggested that the 
Ruler retained the designation as an honorary title after 
his period of office: But a better explanation is to be found 
in the exceptional prosperity of Asia.*" 

The great temple, that of Diana (Artemis), was likewise 
in Ephesus. Excavations of this temple have been made in 
the past and numerous inscriptions bear witness to the 
goddess and the worship connected with it. Her name is 
found in those inscriptions to have been exactly that, which 
the mob used, "the Great Diana." The usual invocations 
to these goddesses were "Great Diana" or Artemis, the 
word used in the Greek. In other inscriptions she was 
called "the most great goddess." The temple of itself was 
a magnificent structure. Some parts may be seen in the 
British Museum. The structure was about 420 feet long 
and nearly 250 wide. Hundreds of persons, such as priests, 
eunuchs, temple wardens, virgin priestesses, were in connec- 
tion with the temple. The temple was stored with rich 
treasures of gold and silver. A large part of the city lived 
on the trade, which had been created by the existence of 
the great temple and the thousands of pilgrims which flocked 
to the idolatrous festivities and games. There was a guild 
of silversmiths, and they manufactured shrines of Artemis 
and most likely all kinds of souvenirs, little models of the 
temple and the goddess. Demetrius was the leader of this 
guild and in the meeting he called, he stated before the 

*R. P. Rackham. 



338 



silversmiths that they well knew that this seemingly religious 
craft is the source of their wealth. Quite a confession this 
silversmith made. And it is not different in the great "world 
religion" though it may have the name of Christian attached 
to it. The same selling of idolatrous objects, rosaries, candles, 
statues, blessed (?) objects and many other things by which 
money is obtained under the cover of religion. 

But Demetrius also bears witness to the great influence 
of the Gospel. "This Paul hath persuaded and turned 
away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are 
made with hands." How active Paul must have been and 
his testimony was backed up with the power of God. Not 
alone was the craft of the silversmith in great danger, but 
the great Diana and the temple was in danger of collapse 
under the preaching of the tentmaker of Tarsus. It may 
have been a well-plotted scheme when the company of 
silversmiths in fury rushed out of their meeting room into 
the streets and shouted at the top of their voices. "Great 
is Diana of the Ephesians." The whole city was aroused. 
Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonian companions of 
Paul, were dragged into the theatre. This was an enormous 
place, being able to shelter about 25,000 persons. Paul 
himself was ready to face the angry mob, but the disciples 
opposed him and even some of the friendly Asiarchs cautioned 
him against assuming such a risk. The whole assembled 
company was an unruly mob, the great majority, perhaps, 
did not know what they had come for. Then the Jews put 
forward one of their orators to address the mob, one Alex- 
ander. But he could not bring in a word. He was known as 
a Jew, and the Jews hated idolatry. For two hours the wild 
cry of the demonized multitude continued, "Great is D'ana 
of the Ephesians." Then the town clerk appeared. He 
settled the whole question in a very diplomatic way. First 
he stated the popular superstition that the image of Artemis 
fell down from Jupiter. Then he exhorted them to quiet- 



339 



ness, and after some sound advice and showing the danger 
that the superior Roman officers might hold them responsible 
for their riotous behavior, he dismissed the assembly.* What 
might have happened if Paul had gone in person to the 
theatre may only be guessed at. God in His mercy shielded 
his servants, and the Devil was completely defeated in his 
efforts. In the beginning of the next chapter, we find the 
Apostles once more in Macedonia and Achaia. 

*The Greek for assembly is ecclesia, " the outcalled ones." This 
word is also used for the church. The ecclesia " of the Ephesian mob 
was called out by the silversmiths.'* The " ecclesia " of " the Lord 
Jesus Christ is called out by the Holy Spirit." 



340 



CHAPTER XX. 

With this chapter we follow the Apostle in his eventful 
journey to Jerusalem. We divide the chapter into four 
parts. 

I. Paul in Macedonia (Verses 1-2). 

II. His abode in Greece, the visit to Troas and what 
transpired there (Verses 3-12). 

III. The journey from Troas to Miletus (Verses 13-16). 

IV. The farewell to the Ephesian Elders (Verses 17-38). 

I. Paul in Macedonia. 

And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the 
disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Mace- 
donia. And when he had gone over those parts, and had given 
them much exhortation, he came into Greece. (Verses 1-2.) 

The record before us is very brief. Some have thought 
the reason is the fact that the Apostle had turned aside 
from His given ministry and therefore the Holy Spirit 
had nothing to report. We do believe that this is correct. 
The object of the Spirit of God is now- to lead us rapidly 
forward to the last visit of the Apostle to Jerusalem, there- 
fore much is passed over in the untiring service and labors 
of the great Man of God. After the uproar was over in 
Ephesus Paul embraced the disciples and departed to go 
into Macedonia. It is the first farewell scene on this memor- 
able journey. He must have visited Philippi, Thessalon- 
ica, Beroea and perhaps other cities. Besides giving them 
much exhortation, he received their fellowship for the poor 
saints in Jerusalem. In this he was fulfilling the request 
which had been made at the council in Jerusalem. James, 



341 



Cephas and John had there asked Paul and Barnabas 
"that we should remember the poor; the same which I 
also was forward to do" (Gal. ii : 10). From Macedonia 
Paul passed on into Greece (Achaia). 

II. His abode in Greece, the visit to Troas and what 
transpired there. 

And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait 
for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return 
through Macedonia. And there accompanied him into Asia, 
Sopater of Beroea, the son of Pyrrhus ; and of the Thessalonians, Aris- 
tarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and 
of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. These going before tarried for 
us at Troas. And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of 
unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; 
where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, 
when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached 
unto them, ready to depart on the morrow: and continued his 
speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper 
chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a 
window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a 
deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with 
sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. 
And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, 
Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore 
was come up again, and had broken the bread, and eaten, and 
talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And 
they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. 
(Verses 3-12.) 

Three months were spent by him in Achaia, but we 
hear nothing of his labors there. Corinth was the place 
where he tarried. The Jews, who well remembered the 
defeat before Gallio, the deputy of Achaia (xviii:12), laid 
in wait for him as he was about to sail across to Syria. 
The plot was aimed at Paul's life, which most likely had 
been planned to be accomplished on board of ship, he in- 
tended to take from the port of Corinth, Cenchrea. Instead 
of sailing from there, he returned to Macedonia. Seven 



342 

brethren accompanied him, and went before into Asia to wait 
at Troas for Paul and Luke. Sopater (the same as in Rom. 
xvi:21), was of Beroea. Two were from the assembly in 
Thessalonica, Aristarchus and Secundus, Gaius was from 
Derbe, Timothy and the two of Asia, Tychicus and Trophi- 
mus. The last-named was left sick in Miletus (2 Tim. iv:20). 

From the little word "we" in verse 6, we learn that Luke, 
the beloved physician, and the penman, used by the Holy 
Spirit to write this book, joined the Apostle. He had not 
been with Paul for about seven years. The last "we" was 
found in Philippi (Acts xvi:16) and here in Philippi it is. 
used again. It is more than probable that Luke spent the 
greater part of his time in that city. 

After a brief stay in Philippi and a five days' voyage, 
they came to Troas, where they found that the other breth- 
ren had arrived before them. In Troas the whole company, 
tarried for seven days. Here something occurred which 
is of interest and importance. In verse 7 we find a descrip* 
tion of how the disciples there kept the first day of the week. 
We have here the fact stated that the disciples including 
the apostolic company, came together on the first day of the 
week. This is the blessed day, which followed the Sabbath, 
the day on which our ever-blessed Lord rose from the dead, 
the day on which He manifested Himself to His disciples 
and appeared in their midst (John xx:19)_. For this reason 
the first day of the week is called "the Lord's day" (Rev. 
i : 10). And it is right that we call the day of New Tes- 
tament worship not Sabbath, for it is not the Sabbath; the 
Sabbath is the seventh day and if we were under the law, 
we would be obliged to keep that day in the strictest way. 
Nor should we call the day "Sunday," for it is named after 
the Sun god, but if we say "the Lord's day," we speak 
scripturally. It is a blessed day of privilege. And what 
glorious memories are connected with that day! If God's 
people are really in the Spirit, all the wonderful and blesse4 



343 



truths and facts of our redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ 
crowd in upon the soul. The Lord Jesus Christ rose from 
the dead on that day and this glorious truth points back to 
the cross, where He died, the Just for the unjust, and gave 
His life for a ransom for many. He is risen and lives; this 
directs the heart upward to the place of glory, where, at the 
right hand of God we see Jesus, who was made a little lower 
than the angels, crowned with glory and honor. The blessed 
hope that we shall see Him as He is and be like Him, is closely 
connected with this. And these great facts and wonderful 
truths are the incentives and objects of true Christian wor- 
ship. 

And on the first day of the week the disciples in Troas 
came together. There was only one company. The sad 
division into sects and parties was then wholly unknown. But 
why did they gather together? Did the news that the Apostle 
Paul was in their midst bring them together? Did they come 
to hear the mighty man of God preach a great sermon? No. 
But we read that the disciples came together not a mixed 
multitude, but as disciples to break bread. This was their 
first object in the gathering on the first day of the week. 
The statement one meets occasionally that the breaking of 
bread meant that they had a meal together is so superficial 
and unwarranted that we need not to argue about it. The 
breaking of bread means the Lord's Supper. "Do this in 
remembrance of Me" — our blessed Lord had requested His 
disciples, and this request was re-stated by the Apostle Paul. 
In 1 Cor. xi:23-26, we read: 

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered 
unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was 
betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake 
it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: 
this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he 
took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New 
Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remem- 



brance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this 
cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. 

He had received this of the Lord, no doubt in a direct 
revelation, and he delivered it as His message to the churches. 
That blessed memorial feast the Lord Jesus Christ instituted 
on the night He was betrayed is to be kept by His own 
redeemed people "till He comes." Can there be anything 
more precious than this? What is all service and sacrifice 
in service, in comparison with the response to His request 
ere He went to the cross, "do this in remembrance of Me"? 
What memories flood the soul when in the power of the 
Spirit of God this feast is kept! All the marvellous facts of 
our redemption are proclaimed at the Lord's table. His 
coming into the world, His death on the cross and the infinite 
worth of that death, what has been accomplished by it, the 
new and living way which has been made into the Holiest, 
His resurrection, His presence as Priest in glory, His coming 
again, all these and much more cluster around the Lord's 
table. 

The question has often been raised, How often should 
the Lord's supper be kept? There is no command what- 
ever about the frequency of the observance of this blessed 
• ceremony. From Acts II we learned that in the beginning 
of the church it was kept daily. The Holy Spirit brought 
the Lord's request at once before the hearts of the company 
of believers and so strong was the love for the Lord that they 
remembered Him daily in the breaking of bread. 

The passage before us carries with it the impression that 
it was the custom of the disciples to come together to remem- 
ber the Lord on the first day of the week. The Lord's day 
and the Lord's supper belong together and there can be no 
doubt that the early church celebrated that feast of love 
each Lord's day. 

If we had been present in Troas that Lord's day we 
would have witnessed a meeting of praise and worship. Af- 



345 



ter some disciple had given thanks for the bread and for the 
wine, these emblems of His great love were passed around 
among the gathered company. 

After the breaking of bread was over, Paul preached 
unto them. However, the word preached must be changed 
to "discoursed." It was not the preaching of the Gospel 
to an unsaved company, for such had not gathered to remem- 
ber the Lord. No unsaved person has a place at the Lord's 
table. Only believers being present, Paul addressed them. 
It has not pleased the Holy Spirit to report this discourse. 
Following the remembrance of the Lord what blessed truths 
must have been brought out by the great Apostle! The ad- 
dress was not like the modern day "sermonette" of fifteen 
or twenty minutes: "he continued his speech until midnight." 

The meeting place was an upper chamber and many 
lights were burning. All at once a young man, Eutychus, 
fell down from the third loft and was taken up dead. He 
sat in a window and had fallen in a deep sleep till he fell 
from that height to the ground. Through Paul's embrace 
he was raised to life. Life had not gone out of the body 
and Paul declared that his life (soul) was in him. The func- 
tions of life were restored and the bonds between soul and 
body were re-established. The incident has been much used 
in an allegorical way. Some see in Eutychus the type of a 
believer who has fallen asleep spiritually and fallen, and who 
is restored. Others read the history of the church in this 
event. 

Paul then partook of the bread (which in verse 11 means 
the simple eating of bread and no longer the Lord's supper) 
and talked a long while, till the day dawned, when he 
departed. 

III. The Journey from Troas to Miletus. 

And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there in- 
tending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself 



346 



to go afoot. And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, 
and came to Mitylene. And we sailed thence, and came the next 
day over against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos, 
and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next day we came to Miletus. 
For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would 
not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for 
him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. (Verses 13-16.) 

The company then took ship to sail to Assos, but Paul 
made the journey of over 20 miles on foot. He wanted 
to be alone like Elijah as well as others. What thoughts 
must have passed through his mind! What burdens must 
have been upon his heart! What anxieties in connection 
with that coming visit to Jerusalem! 

No doubt as he walked along, he stepped along in prayer 
in communion with the Lord, unhindered and undisturbed 
by his fellow laborers. How well it is if we follow his exam- 
ple and the examples of all the other great men of God, above 
all the example of our Lord, and be alone, alone with God. 
"For us this is often a wise thing. To be alone, apart from 
men, but alone with God, where we can think of Him, 
of ourselves and of the work as He sees it. Alone- — where 
in His presence responsibility is felt, instead of activity 
before men. This communion with Him, as His servants, 
gives and sustains a blessed confidence in Him, an intimacy 
of soul with Him, full of goodness and of grace." 

And how the heart of the child of God yearns for such an 
intimacy with God! The enemy of our souls ever tries to 
keep us from this. Well it is if we tear ourselves loose 
from our choicest friends and fellowship of saints and ser- 
vice, to seek His presence, to be alone. 

They took him in at Assos, which they reached before 
the Apostle had arrived. Nothing but the route is here 
described. Ephesus looms up. But it seemed impossible 
for the hurrying Apostle, who was determined to reach 
Jerusalem at Pentecost, to visit the beloved city. When 



347 



Miletus was reached he was but thirty miles from 
Ephesus. 

IV. PauPs address to the Elders of Ephesus. 

From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus and called the elders 
of the church. The remaining part of this chapter contains 
his great farewell address to the Ephesian elders and through 
them to the church located there. Two great speeches 
by the Apostle have so far been reported in this book. 
The first was addressed to the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia 
(Acts xiii:16-41). The second was addressed to the Gen- 
tiles in Athens (chapter xvii). The address here in our 
chapter is to the church. It is of very great and unusual 
interest and importance. He speaks of himself, his own 
integrity and recalls to them his ministry. He declares his own 
coming sufferings and his determination not to count his 
life dear, but to finish his course with joy. He warns the 
church concerning the future apostasy and the appear- 
ance in their midst of false teachers. But we must study 
the great address in detail. 

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of 
the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, 
Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what 
manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord 
with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, 
which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: And how I kept 
back nothing that was profitable unto you/but have showed you, 
and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying 
both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, 
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go 
bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that 
shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in 
every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none 
of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, 
so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which 
I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the 
grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom 
I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no 



348 



more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure 
from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare 
unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto your- 
selves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath 
made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath 
purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my 
departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing 
the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking per- 
verse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, 
and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to 
warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I 
commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able 
to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them 
which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or 
apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have minis- 
tered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have 
shewed you all things how that so laboring ye ought to support 
the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how 
he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he 
had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. 
And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, 
sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they 
should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the 
ship. (Verses 17-38.) 

The entire address contains the characteristic phrases 
so generally employed by the apostle. These phrases used 
by Paul or in connection with him are often found in 
the Book of Acts: "Lying in wait, or plots (ix:24, xx:3, 
xxiii:30); house to house (viii:3); faith in the Lord Jesus 
(xxiv:24, xxvi:18); and now behold (xiiiill); bound in the 
spirit (xix:21); afflictions (xiv:22); course (xiii:25); / am 
pure (xviii:6); the counsel of God (xiii:36); appointed (xix:21); 
perverse (xiii:8, 10); the Word of His Grace (xiv:3). Com- 
pare 1 Thess. i:5, 9 with verse 18 in this chapter. Serving 
the Lord (Rom. xii:ll); humility of mind (Col. ii:18): tears 
(2 Cor. ii:4); profitable (1 Cor. x:23); Jews and Greeks (Rom. 
i : 1 6) ; finish my course (Phil. iii:12, 2 Tim. iv:7); ministry 
zuhich I received (Col. iv:17, Rom. i:5, Eph. iii:7, Col. i:23, 



349 



25, 1 Tim. i:12); from the Lord (Gal. i:12, 1 Cor. ix:23); 

ray face (Col. ii:l); admonish (Rom. xv:14, Col. i:28, 
iii:16); costf* (Rom. vii:7), these hands ministered (1 Cor. 
iv:12, 1 Thess. ii:9, 2 Thess. iii 8), laboring (1 Thess. v:12, 
1 Tim. v:17), help the weak (1 Thess. v:14, 1 Cor. xii:28), 
remember (Gal. ii:10, Eph. ii:2, Col. iv:18, etc.)." 

How many elders {-presbyters) had come to Miletus is 
not stated. Their office and their work is given in verse 
28. They are overseers (episcopi), and the Holy Spirit 
appointed them to feed the church of God. Ritualistic 
churches claim that the office of a presbyter and a bishop, 
an overseer, are distinct; but such a distinction which is 
claimed does not exist. It is also incorrect to say that 
because there are no more Apostles, there can be no more 
elders. This is as erroneous as if one would say the gifts 
of evangelists, pastors and teachers have ceased. 

The word "bishop" — overseer describes the work of an 
elder — the word "presbyter" an elder, that is one mature 
in years and experience, not a novice (1 Tim. iii:6). 

As long as the true church is on earth these gifts and 
elders are also in existence and they must be recognized. 

The address of the Apostle Paul falls into four parts: 
1. A rehearsal of his integrity and faithfulness in ministry 
(Verses 19-21). 2. The announcement of his anticipated 
sufferings and his determination to endure (Verses 22-27). 
3. The charge to the elders and the warning (Verses 28- 
31). 4. The final word (Verses 32-35). 

1. First then we find a rehearsal of his integrity and 
faithfulness in his ministry. On account of the prominence 
given to himself and his labours the Apostle Paul has been 
charged with egotism and that his address was not spoken 
by inspiration. Such, however, is not the case at all. One 
might just as well charge the Apostle with egotism in writing 
his different epistles in which the personal element is often 
so predominant. The fact is that God has been pleased 



350 



to make this great man a pattern in every way. When 
he refers thus to himself he was led by the Holy Spirit 
to manifest the Grace of God in his own life as a devoted 
servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had arrived in Ephesus 
in the spring of 51 just four years previous. He was among 
them, as he loved to call himself, as the slave of the Lord, 
serving Him. And how he served the Lord! These things 
he mentioned. With all humility of mind. From 2 Cor. 
x:l and verse 10 we learn that his bodily presence was un- 
attractive and base. Paired with an humble bodily appear- 
ing was humble-mindedness. "Let this mind be in you, which 
was in Christ Jesus" (Phil, ii : 15), thus he wrote by the 
Holy Spirit and the life of Christ had produced this very 
mind, the leading characteristic of which is humility, in 
the great Apostle. He mentions the many tears, with 
which he was amongst them. Our beloved Apostle was 
a man of many tears; he wept much and watered the seed 
with his tears. The affection and anguish of his heart 
brought forth tears and under such deep exercise he wrote 
his epistles. "I wrote unto you with many tears" (2 Cor. 
ii:4). Of the enemies of the cross of Christ he spoke with 
weeping (Phil. iii:18). And he also served among them 
surrounded with temptations and dangers. How few such 
servants we find in our present days! Men are called 
great servants if they can organize great campaigns, reach 
thousands, address constantly large audiences and make 
a great name for themselves and have their photographs 
exhibited as often as possible. This is man's pattern of 
a great servant. But here we have a servant of Christ, 
who is after God's own heart. Serving in humble-minded- 
ness, not seeking great things, serving in love with many 
tears and in many trials. 

In his ministry he was as faithful as he was Christ-like 
in his character. He kept nothing back. He had not shunned 
to declare all the counsel of God. The many who profess 



351 



to be preachers and teachers in our own times and who 
shun to declare all the counsel of God and keep back certain 
truths are not the servants of Christ, but they are man- 
pleasers. And elsewhere the Apostle says, "If I yet pleased 
men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (Gal. i:10). 
How often this is done. The second Coming of Christ 
for the establishment of His Kingdom and the other great 
prophetic unfoldings connected with this event are often 
set aside and kept back, though they are an important 
part of the counsel of God. 

Then he did not confine his ministry to a sermon on 
Lord's day during the years of his presence in Ephesus, 
but publicly and from house to house he had labored. Nor 
did he confine his ministry to a certain class of people. 
He testified to the Jews and to the Greeks repentance towards 
God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Both re- 
pentance and faith belong together and are inseparably 
connected. He preached and taught that Jews and Gen- 
tiles were lost and have to take their true places as sinners 
before God, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. When 
the Gospel is preached, and faith by hearing cometh to 
the heart, true repentance will be the result. 

2. In the second place we find the announcement of 
his anticipated sufferings and his determination to endure. 
Dark forebodings are filling his mind. Going unto Jeru- 
salem he is bound in the spirit, which does not mean the 
Holy Spirit, but his own spirit. The future is dark for 
him as no revelation has reached him what is to be his 
fate. But at the same time the Holy Spirit bore witness 
in every city that bonds and afflictions were in store for 
him. And yet he pushes on towards Jerusalem. With 
all the uncertainty about what is to come he possesses the 
certainty that the beloved saints of Ephesus were to see his 
face no more. Was he in the Lord's will when he went 
on in this way in spite of the Holy Spirit's warning? Cer- 



352 



tainly not. But his whole soul must have been filled with 
a consuming love and burning desire for his kinsmen, 
his brethren in Jerusalem. What then if bonds and 
afflictions were to come upon him? What if he were to 
share in the city of his fathers some of the sufferings 
of Christ? His heart longed for "the fellowship of his 
sufferings being made conformable unto His death." And 
later he could write, "I am now ready to be offered." It 
is the triumph of faith which breathes in verse 24 of our 
chapter. Though he had gone on his way in self-will, yet 
in faith he could say, "but none of these things move me, 
neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might 
finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have 
received of the Lord Jesus to testify the Gospel of the grace 
of God." Words of faith these are. And faithfully he 
had labored preaching both the Gospel of Grace and the 
Kingdom of God, not shrinking from declaring all the counsel 
of God and therefore he was pure from the blood of all. 
He had preached the truth in its fulness and completeness 
and with that the responsibility of the servant ends; but 
the servant of Christ who does not declare all the counsel 
of God has a fearful responsibility. Well has one said, 
there are three kinds of servants: a good Christian and a 
good workman, such as Paul; a good Christian and a bad 
workman, himself saved, but his work to be consumed; 
then he who seeks to corrupt and destroy the temple of 
God, whose work as well as himself shall perish. And such 
evil workmen were even then in existence seeking to corrupt 
the faith. As long as Paul was in the world his spiritual 
energy resisted and overcame these evil things. What 
should come after his departure he makes known by the 
Spirit of God in the third part of his address. 

3. The charge to the Elders and the Warning. It is a 
solemn charge the Apostle now delivers. At the same time it 
is full of instructions, As overseers they were charged with 



353 



taking heed first unto themselves. Later Paul wrote to 
Timothy, then in Ephesus, take heed to thyself, and 
to the doctrine. Only in this way could they dis- 
charge their solemn responsibility. The flock is mentioned, 
meaning the sheep of Christ and the Church of God, to 
which all the sheep of Christ belong, and over these the 
elders were overseers and called to feed the church. It is 
a significant expression — "the church of God, which he hath 
purchased with His own blood." Here the blood of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb, is called "His own 
blood, the blood of God." How great the cost-price! It 
was God Himself in His Son, one with Him, who accom- 
plished the work. If we but could think of all those, no 
matter where they are, redeemed and saved by grace, 
as the flock and as the assembly of God, which He who 
is God purchased with His blood, what love and gracious- 
ness would energize us and what deep concern we would 
have towards all! 

And then the reason is given why they should take such 
heed. Verses 29 and 30 contain a prophecy. The Apostle 
speaks concerning his departure and he does not mention 
anyone to take his place. All the talk among Ritualists 
of apostolic succession is a pure invention and worse. The 
warning is concerning grievous wolves who would enter 
in among the flock, and concerning false teachers who were 
to arise in their own midst, speaking perverse things to 
draw away disciples after them. How abundantly this 
great prediction has been verified. And never before has 
it been so evident as now. Wolves in sheep-clothing, 
with the most damnable heresies like Millennial Dawnism 
and Christian Science have entered the flock, while from 
within false leaders have arisen, who propagate the work 
of Alexander, Hymenaeus and Philetus (1 Tim. i:2Q; 2 
Tim. ii:17), and divide the flock. Failure soon appears 
after God has begun a work. Thus it has been in the 



354 



past and is so now and will continue till the enemy of 
God, who stands behind the wolves and the false teachers, 
is bound. And all this stamps the teaching that the church 
increases in power and righteousness and leads on towards 
world-conversion as an untruth. Paul made no such pre- 
diction for the church on earth. The truth is that that 
which lays claim to increased power and expansion is the 
apostate thing which long ago has abandoned sound doctrine. 

4. The final word. In his final word he commends 
them to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able 
to build up the individual believer and to give them an inher- 
itance among all them which are sanctified. And blessed be 
His Name, whatever the apostasy brings, how grievous the 
wolves may be, how subtle the false teachers with their 
perverted theories, God and the Word of His Grace abide! 
Nothing can touch these, and that Word can build us up 
and will build us up. It is the great minister to the need of 
our souls, and whenever we turn to it we shall find our 
need supplied, our faith strengthened, and our spiritual lives 
quickened. A blessed word to remember in these days — "I 
commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is 
able to build you up." In the dark days of failure and increas- 
ing departure from God, no child of God needs to be in want. 
Now, more than ever, we may sing, "My cup runneth over." 

Another personal testimony of this pattern servant of 
Christ follows. He had coveted no man's silver, or gold, or 
apparel. He must have held up his hands, when he said, 
"Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered 
unto my necessities, and to them that were with me." 
And as they looked upon his hands they saw hands roughened 
by much toil. In this he had given them an object lesson, 
that they, too, should support the weak, and that they should 
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, so beautifully illus- 
trated in the Apostle's toil — "it is more blessed to give than 
to receive." 



355 



This lesson was specially needed in Ephesus where in the 
heathen worship of Artemis the ministers of the cult ob- 
tained great wealth. What a contrast between the luxuriously 
living, wealth-accumulating priests and temple-servants of 
the temple of Artemis (Diana) and the humble servant of the 
Lord, toiling with his own hands! And how this lesson, too, 
is needed at the present time. The most blessed work on 
earth, preaching the Gospel and teaching the Word, has been 
reduced to a profession with a certain income and with fees 
for service. Charging for such service, which tells out God's 
unspeakable gift and unfathomable love, is foreign to the 
teaching of the New Testament. The servant is cast in 
dependence on his Lord, whom he serves and He will sustain 
him in all his service. "It is more blessed to give than to 
receive."* He had declared and the true servant of Christ 
is called upon to share the blessedness of His Lord by spending 
and being spent, by giving, and helping the weak. A blessed 
path it is, and blessed, too, because the servant but exper- 
iences what a gracious Lord it is whom he serves, who is 
mindful of him and abundantly supplies all his needs. 

An affecting farewell scene closes this chapter. He 
kneeled down and led in prayer. What a prayer it must 
have been! What an outpouring of the heart in God's 
presence! They all wept and fell on Paul's neck and kissed 
him. Their greatest sorrow was that they had heard him 
say they should see his face no more. And they accompanied 
him unto the ship. 

*One of the beatitudes which circulated in the early church apart 
from those preserved in the Gospels. Being embodied_in Acts this 
one is proven to be genuine. 



356 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The final stages of the journey of the Apostle Paul and 
his companions to Jerusalem, and what befell him there, 
are the contents of this interesting chapter. 

I. The journey from Miletus to Tyre and Ptolemais 

(Verses 1-7). 

II. In Cesarea (Verses 8-14). 

III. The Apostle's Arrival in Jerusalem and his visit to 
the Temple (Verses 15-26). 

IV. The Uproar in the Temple. Paul taken prisoner 

(Verses 27-40). 

I. The Journey from Miletus to Tyre and Ptolemais. 

And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and 
had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the 
day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara: And 
finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set 
forth. Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the 
left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the 
ship was to unlade her burden. And finding disciples, we tarried 
there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he 
should not go up to Jerusalem. And when we had accomplished 
those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought 
us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the 
city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed. And when 
we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they 
returned home again. And when we had finished our course from 
Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode 
with them one day. (Verses 1-7.) 

Little needs to be said on the journey itself, for the Holy 
Spirit gives no record of anything which took place, save 



357 



the repeated warnings He gave to the Apostle, who in the 
strongest determination was hastening to reach the chosen 
goal, Jerusalem. Coos, Rhodes and Patara are mentioned, 
and from there they took ship to Phenicia. The landing 
place in that ancient country was Tyre, where some of the 
cargo was to be put ashore, and perhaps an additional one 
was taken aboard, for the destination of the ship was Ptol- 
emais. In Tyre they found a company of disciples and 
tarried there for seven days. This rather lengthy stay may 
have been by request of the Apostle, so that they might be 
enabled to spend a Lord's day with the assembly in Tyre. 
In Troas (chapter xx:6) they also had tarried seven days, 
and on the first day of the week, as we learned from that 
chapter, they were engaged in the breaking of bread, remem- 
bering the Lord in gathering around His table. Though 
no statement is made about the Apostle meeting with the 
believers in Tyre for the same blessed purpose, we can take 
it for granted that such was the case. 

And the Holy Spirit through these disciples warned the 
Apostle at once that he should not go to Jerusalem. This 
indeed, was very solemn. If these disciples had spoken of 
themselves, if it said that they were in anxiety over Paul's 
journey to that city, one might say that they were simply 
speaking as men, but the record makes it clear that the 
Holy Spirit spoke through them. Could then the Apostle 
Paul have been under the guidance of that same Spirit in 
going to Jerusalem? As stated before, the great love for 
his brethren, his kinsmen, burned in his heart, and so great 
was his desire to be in Jerusalem that he ignored the voice 
of the Spirit. The answer which the Apostle gave to their 
inspired warning is not given, but we know that he did not 
swerve from his purpose. 

Beautiful is the farewell scene in connection with this 
visit. It even surpasses the farewell of the previous chap- 
ter. a And they all brought us on our way, with wives and 



358 



children," writes the penman, "till we were out of the city; 
and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed." It is a 
sweet picture of love. Even the children came along to get 
the last glimpse of the great man of God, who had tarried 
in their midst. And what a prayer-meeting it must have 
been, there on the seashore! 

In Ptolemais, which they reached next, the brethren were 
saluted by them, and they spent one day in their company. 

II. In Cesarea. 

And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and 
came unto Cesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the 
evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. And 
the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. 
And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea 
a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us 
he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, 
Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind 
the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the 
hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we, 
and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. 
Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine 
heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at 
Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would 
not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. 
(Verses 8-14.) 

The journey from Ptolemais to Cesarea was probably 
made on foot. When they arrived in that city, they found 
a welcome in the house of one whose name is familiar from 
the earlier chapters of our book. They entered the house 
of Philip. As there also was an apostle by the name of 
Philip (Matthew x:3), the Holy Spirit tells us that it was not 
the Apostle Philip, but Philip the Evangelist, one of the 
seven (Acts vi:5). 

We had his history and great activity before. The last 
we read of him was at the close of Chapter viii. After he 
had been so blessedly used in the conversion of the eunuch, 



359 



and had been caught away by the Spirit, he was found "at 
Azotus, and passing through, he preached in all the cities, 
till he came to Cesarea." Here we find him again twenty 
years later, settled in Cesarea, with his family. His gift as 
an Evangelist, no doubt, he exercised throughout all these 
years. There is no record given of the blessed activity of 
this servant of the Lord, but in that coming day his labor 
and the blessed results of this great Evangelist will be 
manifested, as shall be all the works of the Saints of God. 

Special mention is made of the four unmarried daughters 
of Philip, who had the gift of prophecy. This has puzzled 
some, because elsewhere it is stated — "a woman suffer not to 
teach," and that women should be silent in the assembly. 
It has therefore been stated by some, who press this point 
in a dogmatic way, that these four virgins had their con- 
nection with the Jewish and earthly kingdom. But this is 
far-fetched. Woman is not excluded from the gifts of the 
Spirit; the exercise of woman's gift, however, is according 
to the sphere given to her by God. These four daughters 
possessed the gift of prophesying, and of teaching, and they 
also made use of the gift. But did they preach and teach in 
public? Certainly not. If they exercised their gift it must 
have been in their sphere, that is, in their home, the house 
of their father. And when Paul and his companions appeared, 
nothing is said that these virgins made use of the gift in the 
presence of these visitors. This in itself is very striking. 
We desire to quote what another has said on this interesting 
and timely question:* "There is no reason why a woman 
should not have this or most other gifts as much as a man. I 
do not say the same kind of gift always. Surely God is wise 
and gives suited gifts whether to men or women, or, it may 
be, I was going to say, to children. The Lord is Sovereign, 
and knows how, as putting all who now believe in the body 



*W. Kelly Introductory Lectures to the Acts, page 145. 



360 



of Christ, so also to give them a work suitable to the purposes 
of His own grace. Certainly He did clothe these four daugh- 
ters of Philip with a very special spiritual power. They had 
one of the highest characters of spiritual gift — they proph- 
esied. And if they were invested with this power, certainly 
it was not to be put under a bushel, but to be exercised, 
the only question is, how. 

"Now Scripture, if we but be subject, is quite explicit as 
to this. In the first place, prophecy stands confessedly in 
the highest rank of teaching. It is teaching. Next, the 
Apostle himself is the person who tells us that he does not 
suffer a woman to teach. This is clearly decisive; if we 
bow to the Apostle as inspired to give us God's mind, we 
ought to know that it is not the place of a Christian woman 
to teach. He is speaking on this topic, not in 1 Cor. xi, 
but in Chapter xiv. He is drawing the line between men 
and women in 1 Tim. ii. The latter epistle forbids the 
women as a class to teach. The other and still closer word 
in the former epistle, commands them to be silent in the 
assembly. At Corinth, apparently, there was some difficulty 
as to godly order and the right relations of men and women, 
because the Corinthians, being a people of speculative 
habits, instead of believing, reasoned about things. It was 
the tendency of the Greek mind to question everything. 
They could not understand that, if God had given a woman 
as good a gift as a man, she was not equally to use it. We 
can all feel their difficulty. Such reasoners are not wanting 
now. The fault of it all was, and is, that God is left out. 
His will was not in the thought of the Corinthians. There was 
no waiting on the Lord to ascertain what was His mind. 
Clearly, if He has called the church into being, it cannot but 
be made for His own glory. He has His own mind and will 
about the church and He has therefore spread out in His 
Word how all the gifts of His grace are to be exercised." 
"Now the passages in 1 Cor. xiv and in 1 Tim. ii, appear 



361 



to me to be perfectly plain as to the relative place of the 
woman, whatever may be her gift. This may be said to 
decide only as to one sphere — the assembly — where the 
woman, according to Scripture, is precluded from the exer- 
cise of her gift. I may say further, that in those days it did 
not occur to them that women should go forth publicly 
to preach the Word. Bad as the state of things was in 
early days, they seem to me to have looked for a greater 
sense of modesty on the part of women. There is not the 
slightest doubt that many females with the best intentions 
have thus preached, as they do still. They, or their friends, 
defend their cause by appeals to the blessing of God on 
the one hand, and on the other, to the crying need of per- 
ishing sinners everywhere. But nothing can be more cer- 
tain than that Scripture (and this is the standard) leaves 
them without the slightest warrant from the Lord for their 
line of conduct. Public preaching of the Gospel on the 
part of women is never contemplated in Scripture. It was 
bad enough for the Corinthians to think that they might 
speak among the faithful. It might have seemed that in 
the assembly women had the shelter of godly men; that 
there they were not offensively putting themselves forward 
before all sorts of people in the world, as must be the case 
in evangelizing. Among the godly they may have imagined 
a veil, so to speak, drawn over them, more or less. But 
in modern times the end is supposed to justify the means, 
Gross as the Corinthians were, I must confess that to my 
mind the plans of our own day seem even more grievous, 
and with less excuse for them."* 

Another one appears, whose name is known to us from 
the prev ious record. Agabus, one who had likewise a gift 

*The so-called " Pentecostal people " and other " Holiness sects " 
ignore the divine injunctions completely, besides teaching positive 
error like the eradication of the old nature in the believer. Surely 
the Holy Spirit cannot be there in His fulness, as they claim, 



362 



of prophecy, came down from Judea. In chapter xi:27 
he stood up and announced that there should be a great 
dearth. He made this prediction by the Spirit and it 
of course came true. When he had come he took Paul's 
girdle and with it bound his own hands and feet and then 
he said: "Thus saith the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews 
at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall 
deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." Here then 
another warning was given. It was the last and by far 
the strongest. Did Agabus really speak by the Spirit? 
The literal fulfilment of his predictive action furnishes 
the answer. The whole company, both his fellow travellers 
and the believers in Cesarea began to beseech him not 
to go up to Jerusalem. Then came Paul's final declaration: 
"What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I 
am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem 
for the name of the Lord Jesus." One cannot but admire 
the wonderful determination and whole-hearted devotion 
which breathe in these words of the Apostle. He had 
indeed set his face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem, what- 
ever the cost might be. And if the Holy Spirit had so 
solemnly warned him, and he rejected these warnings, 
the Lord in His own gracious way over-ruled it all to His 
own glory and to foreshadow what might be termed "the 
captivity of the Gospel." God permitted it all for His 
own wise purpose. He knows the end from the beginning. 
The blessed Gospel of the Grace and Glory of God committed 
to the Apostle Paul was soon to be set aside by man and 
the judaistic form, that perverted Gospel, to gain the vic- 
tory. And Paul himself arrested in Jerusalem given over 
into the hands of the Gentiles and sent to Rome. 

"The will of the Lord be done" was the last word spoken 
before He went up to Jerusalem. And a blessed word 
it is to remember. The will of the Lortl will be accom- 
plished in the lives of His people in spite of all their failures. 



363 



The whole path of all His people is marked out by Himself. 
What calm it brings to our troubled hearts if we but re- 
member it always! 

III. The Apostle's Arrival in Jerusalem and His Visit 
to the Temple. 

And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to 
Jerusalem. There went with us a'so certain of the disciples of 
Cesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old 
disciple, with whom we should lodge. And when we were come 
to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day fol- 
lowing Paul went in with us u o James; and all the elders were 
present. And when he i th m, he declared particularly 

what things God had wr g the Gentiles by his ministry. 

And when they heard it, g c .lied the Lord, and said unto 

him, Thou seest, brother, h v many thousands of Jews there are 
which believe; and they are zeal us of the law: And they are in- 
formed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among 
the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to 
circumcise their children, nei her to walk after the customs. What 
is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they 
will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to 
thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; Then take, 
and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that 
they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, 
whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that 
thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching 
the Gentiles which we believe, we have written and concluded that 
they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves 
from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, 
and from fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day 
purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the 
accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering 
should be offered for every one of them. (Verses 15-26.) 

It was immediately after those days spent in Cesarea 
that the Apostle and his companions went up to Jerusalem. 
As it was before one of the great feasts of Judaism, the 
road from Cesarea to the City of Jerusalem must have 
presented a lively picture as large numbers of Jews went 



364 



Up to the feast. Disciples of Cesarea accompanied them, 
and, as it was almost 70 miles to Jerusalem, the journey 
had to be made in two days. So they had to lodge in 
the house of Mnason a Cyprian one of the early disciples. 
The correct translation is — "there went with us also some 
of the disciples from Cesarea, to bring us to one Mnason, 
a Cyprian, an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge." 
Nothing else is reported of this last stage of the journey 
to Jerusalem. When they reached their destination at 
last, they were heartily welcomed by the brethren. With 
what feeling must the Apostle Paul have entered once 
more the city of his fathers, which he was to leave as a 
prisoner! Great are the events, which subsequently took 
place. 

On the day following the company paid a visit to James 
in whose house all the elders had assembled for the pur- 
pose of meeting with Paul and his friends. No doubt they 
were well informed of his purposed visit to Jerusalem. 
Where were the apostles? They are not mentioned at all 
in this account; from which we may conclude that they 
were absent. And now once more the Apostle relates, 
what no doubt was dearest to the hearts of James and 
the elders, what God had wrought through His God-given 
ministry among the Gentiles. It must have been a very 
lengthy account; for he rehearsed particularly, "or one by 
one" the things, which had happened in His great activity. 
James, however, does not seem to be the spokesman here 
as he was in the meeting in chapter xv. After Paul had 
spoken, "they glorified God." 

All had progressed nicely up to this point. But now 
the great crisis is rapidly reached. The meeting had been 
called in the house of James, and only the elders had been 
invited for a very good reason. Reports had reached 
Jerusalem that Paul had taught the Jews among the Gen- 
tiles to forsake Moses, and even to deny children the cove- 



365 



nant sign, circumcision. Most likely the Judaizing element 
in the assembly of Jerusalem, the men who were so success- 
fully overcome by the bold arguments of the Apostle at 
the council in Jerusalem (Acts xv., Gal. ii), the men who 
so strenuously taught, that unless the Gentiles became 
circumcised, they could not be saved — these men were 
responsible for the rumors. What could be done to con- 
vince the multitude that all this was incorrect, that Paul 
after all was a good Jew? The church in Jerusalem had 
become strong; its membership numbered myriads (lite- - 
ral translation). But they were in a transition period. 
They had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet they 
held on to the law of Moses. They were all zealous for 
the Law. They kept all the ordinances of the Law, abstained 
from certain meats, kept the feast days, went to the temple, 
made vows, and purified themselves. If this great multi- 
tude comes together, say the elders to Paul, they will hear 
of his arrival. With the accusations made against the 
Apostle, a great disorder could not be avoided. To dis- 
cover some way to solve the difficulty and avert the danger, 
the meeting had assembled in the house of James. 

Now the rumors about Paul were indeed true. He 
had preached the Gospel as it had been given to him 
by the risen Christ. In that Gospel the law could not 
be recognized. He had taught the position of the believer 
in Christ and as such the believing Jew was free from the 
law. The Epistle to the Romans had been written by 
him through the Spirit of God several years before. And 
yet the Lord in His patience had borne with these con- 
ditions, which prevailed in Jerusalem. 

The fullest teaching on the break which had to come 
between Christianity and Judaism had not yet been given. 
The Epistle to the Hebrews furnished this argument and 
contains the solemn warning of the grave danger of apos- 
tasy from the Gospel by clinging to the shadow-things, 



366 



which are past. To go outside of the camp and bear His 
reproach is the great exhortation given in that Epistle 
to these Jewish Christians. No doubt the Apostle Paul 
wrote that Epistle to his beloved brethren in Jerusalem. 
His heart was filled with love towards them. In his 
own soul he knew that all the commands of the law and 
the law itself had been abolished by the death of Christ. 
The ordinances had been nailed to the cross. The Holy- 
Spirit foreseeing what would happen had warned him, 
as we have seen, not to go to Jerusalem. He went to the 
city and with this he stepped upon dangerous ground. He 
had left the way into which God had called him, and 
though it was his all-consuming love for his own breth- 
ren which was the motive, he became ensnared by the 
enemy. 

The elders suggest to him that there were four men 
who had a vow on them. These he should take and purify 
himself with them as well as pay the charges. This action, 
they reasoned, would not only demonstrate that the reports 
were untrue, but that he, the Apostle of Gentiles "walketh 
orderly and keepeth the law." To make this temptation 
stronger, they re-stated that which had been agreed con- 
cerning the status of the believing Gentiles, according 
to the decision of the church council years ago. All was 
a most subtle snare. He was by that action to show that, 
with all his preaching to the Gentiles, he was still a good 
Jew, faithful to all the traditions of the fathers, and at- 
tached to the temple. 

Without entering into an examination of what the vow 
was, and the purifying and offering connected with it, we 
see the Apostle falling into the snare. He did, as far as 
the record goes, without a moment's hesitation accept 
the suggestion of the elders, and for a number of days we 
see him a visitor to the temple conforming to the customs 
of the law. Where was prayer and direction from the 



367 



Lord? Alas, he had gone his own Way against the wafnihg 
voices of the Holy Spirit ! 

And a strange sight it is to see the Apostle Paul back 
in the temple, going through these dead ceremonies, which 
had been ended by the death of the cross. A strange 
sight to see him, who disclaimed all earthly authority and 
taught deliverance from the law and a union with an unseen 
Christ, submitting once more to the elementary things, as 
he calls them in his Epistle to the Galatians "the beggarly 
elements"! And has not the whole professing church 
fallen into the same snare? What the results of this subtle 
and evil advice were we shall find in the next paragraph. 

IV. The Uproar in the Temple. Paul Taken Prisoner. 

And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were 
of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, 
and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is 
the man, that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and 
the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the 
temple, and hath polluted this holy place. (For they had seen be- 
fore with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they sup- 
posed that Paul had brought into the temple.) And all the city was 
moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew 
him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut. And as 
they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of 
the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Who immediately 
took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when 
they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of 
Paul. Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and com- 
manded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he 
was, and what he had done. And some cried one thing, some an- 
other, among the multitude: and when he could not know the 
certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the 
castle. And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was 
borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multi- 
tude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him. And as 
Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, 
May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek? Art 
not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, 



368 



and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were 
murderers? But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, 
a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, 
suffer me to speak unto the people. And when he had given 
him license, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand 
unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he 
spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue. (Verses 27-40.) 

The seven days connected with the vow of these men 
were almost ended when the Jews, which were in Asia, 
seeing him in the temple, stirred up all the people and laid 
hands on him. In all probability Paul was not known 
to many people in Jerusalem. The Jews who lived in the 
city may not have known him at all by sight. But the 
city was filled with many Jews from Asia, that is the prov- 
ince of Asia, and as Ephesian Jews had come to Jerusalem 
for the feast, he did not escape their notice. They hated 
him and as they recognized him, they watched him closely 
and awaited their opportunity to do him harm. He was 
recognized in the city when a well known Gentile Ephesian, 
Trophimus, was in his company. They supposed that 
the Apostle had brought this Gentile Christian in the 
temple. 

The outer court of the temple, which was called the 
Court of the Gentiles, was open to everybody. Then there 
was an inner court, which was known by the name of the 
Court of Israel. This court was separated from the outer 
court by the middle wall of partition. There were barriers 
and pillars with inscriptions in Greek and Latin, warning 
strangers under the penalty of death not to advance into 
that holy court. Inside the barrier was a high wall, which 
surrounded the inner court, and in this wall were doors (Verse 
30). The eastern part of the Court was reserved for women; 
then a colonnade ran around the Court of the women: 
in its angles were chambers. One of these was called 
the House of the Nazarites, where the Nazarites boiled 
the peace offerings, shaved their heads, and burnt the 



369 



hair. Here most likely the Jews from Asia discovered 
the despised and hated Apostle. Now their hour had 
come to carry out the satanic desire of putting the Apostle 
out of the way. So they held him; then with a charac- 
teristic phrase — "Men of Israel," they cried for help and 
shouted out their accusation — "This is the man that teacheth 
everywhere all men against the people (the Jews), and the 
law, and this place." This language reminds us of what 
we read in connection with Stephen, he too had been accused 
by the Jews in a similar manner. Perhaps in that very 
moment it all came back to the memory of Paul, for he 
was present when Stephen stood up to answer the accusa- 
tions. And even then the words of the Lord, as the Jews 
seized hold on him, may have come into Paul's heart: "I 
will shew him what great things he must suffer for my 
Name's sake." He had great trials in the past, but now 
he stood on the threshold of still greater sufferings. But 
the chief reason these Jews of Asia gave for laying hold 
on Paul was a false accusation. They charged him of having 
polluted the temple by bringing Greeks, uncircumcised 
Gentiles, into that holy place. They had seen him with 
Trophimus, and took it for granted that Trophimus, and 
perhaps other Greeks, had followed him into the temple. 

A fearful scene followed. The news spread like wild- 
fire. It spread in a very few minutes throughout the 
temple courts, and to the crowds outside, and with their 
shoutings and gesticulations they soon attracted others, 
till the whole city was in an uproar. The name of Paul 
and temple pollution must have been shouted in every 
direction. Perhaps some of the older Jews may have even 
then remembered him as Saul the Pharisee, who so many 
years ago had been such a prominent figure in Jerusalem. 
And a great crime it was to defile the temple. Stoning 
according to their law was the penalty, and that fate seemed 
to be imminent for Paul. They dragged him out of the 



370 



temple and the temple guard closed the doors. Then 
they fell upon him. 

They did not dare to stone him in the place where he 
was; the place outside of the city was reserved for that. 
So to avoid another pollution of the temple, they began 
to beat him. They were endeavoring to kill him. 

But God watched over His servant. His life was not 
in the hands of the mob but in the Lord's own hands, and 
such is the case with all His people. In connection with 
the temple buildings was a castle, known by the name, 
"the iortress of Antonia." It was built upon a very steep 
rock and connected with the buildings below by stairs. 
This fortress was occupied by a Roman company of soldiers, 
a cohort with a chief captain (Greek: Chiliarch, com- 
mander of a thousand men). The great disturbance in 
the courts below attracted at once the attention of this 
officer and he rushed his men to the scene. With soldiers 
and centurions he came down the stairs, and their appear- 
ance brought the beating of Paul to an end. 

And the next thing ! Two chains are put about the 
Apostle. Agabus' prophecy is fulfilled. He is a captive now, 
"the prisoner of the Lord," as later he called himself. Tak- 
ing the advice of the elders to appease the displeasure of 
the zealous law-keeping Hebrew Christians, and trying to 
show that he was a good law-keeping Jew, had led him into 
this place where he now finds himself. 

It was all failure from beginning to end. The object 
was not reached. And now his great heart filled with 
love for his brethren, had to begin to learn the sad 
lesson what the Lord told him — "they will not receive thy 
testimony concerning me." As the chains were put up on 
him, bruised and bleeding, may it then not have dawned 
upon him that his love for his Jewish brethren had led him 
in a way which was not the Lord's way? 

It is a blessed study to compare the sufferings of Paul, 



371 



the treatment he received from his brethren according to the 
flesh, his behavior, with that which happened to the Lord 
Himself in the days of His flesh. There is a correspondence 
and it is quite marked. Such a comparison shows the 
creature weakness and imperfection in Paul, and the abso- 
lute perfection of Him who, as to His office work, was made 
perfect through suffering. 

The transportation of Paul into the fortress, however, 
was beset with many difficulties. One cried this and the 
other that, as the chief captain asked what Paul had done 
and who he was. The multitude cried again and again, 
"Away with him," — "Away with him," — the word which 
reminds us of another multitude, who rejected the Prince of 
Life and delivered Him into the hands of the Gentiles. So 
great was the crowd of people that Paul had to be lifted 
up by the soldiers in order to bring him by the stairway 
into the fortress on the rock. When about to be led into 
the castle, Paul addressed the chief captain in Greek. The 
captain was disappointed in this, for he thought he was a 
certain Egyptian, who had led four thousand murderers 
into the desert. Paul gives the Roman officer his pedigree. 
"I am a man, a Jew of Tarsus," and then requests the 
privilege of addressing the furious mob. This was per- 
mitted and taking a prominent place on the stairs, where 
he could be seen by all below, and when after beckoning to 
the people, silence had been secured, he addressed them in 
Hebrew. The break of the chapter at this point is unfor- 
tunate. The next chapter contains the first address of 
defence of the prisoner Paul. 



372 



CHAPTER XXII. 

What a scene it was! On the stairs, midway between 
the temple court and the fortress, stood the Apostle in 
chains, his person showing the effects of the beating he 
had received. Around him were the well-armed Roman sol- 
diers, and below the multitude with up-turned faces, still 
wildly gesticulating and only becoming more silent when they 
heard the first words from Paul's lips in the Hebrew tongue.* 
We find two sections in this chapter. 

I. The Address of the Apostle (Verses 1-21). 

II. The Answer from the Mob, and Paul's Appeal to 
his Roman citizenship (Verses 22-30). 

I. The Address of the Apostle. 

It is the first address in his defence recorded in this book, 
and his own person and experience is the theme. Seventeen 
times he uses the word "I," so that we have in his words 
a sketch of his life. All is well put and shows the great 
tact and wisdom of the Apostle. We find that the address 
contains three well-defined parts. He was not permitted 
to finish his autobiographical statements, but the mob inter- 
rupted him, as many years before Stephen's address was cut 
short. 

1. Paul's Account of himself as a Jew. The accusation 
against him was "that he teacheth all men everywhere against 
the people, and the law, and this place. " This now he tries 
to meet first of all by the evidence of his past Jewish life- 
The advice of the elders, too, finds an echo in the opening 

*The Aramaic dialect, which was then universally used amoi g the 
Jews. 



373 



words of his speech. They had told him that he should 
prove to the multitude that he walked orderly, keeping the 
law. 

Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make 
now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the 
Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) 
I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, 
yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught 
according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was 
zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this 
way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men 
and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all 
the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto 
the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were 
there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. (Verses 1-5.) 

It was a very wise and tactful utterance with which he 
began his defence. The crowd below which had used him so 
roughly and which was ready to murder him, he addressed 
as "Men, brethren and fathers." This was bound to 
secure at once their attention, as well as the use of their own 
language. But we may see in this conciliatory opening of 
his address an expression of his graciousness. The words 
which follow were spoken to show that he had had a true 
Jewish bringing up, and lived an exemplary Jewish life. 
First, he gives the fact of his birth outside of the land. Many 
were thus born and educated away from the homeland, 
but he was brought up in the City of Jerusalem, thereby 
showing that he belonged to a very zealous class of Jews, 
who cared for the religion and customs of the fathers. 
Furthermore, he had as teacher the great and well-known, 
as well as highly esteemed, Gamaliel. Gamaliel was a doctor 
of the Torah, the law, and a great leader of the strictest sect 
among the Jews, the Pharisees. So the speaker had become 
a Pharisee and had entered upon a life of the most scrupulous 
law-keeping as well as obedience to the traditions of the 
elders. 



374 



Next, he bears witness to his own zeal. He "was zeal- 
ous toward God, as ye all are this day." One can only 
admire the tactful courtesy of the speaker. He not only 
spoke of his own zeal for God, but acknowledged the same 
in his hearers. With these words he even declared the 
wild scene in which he was so prominently concerned, 
an expression of their zeal for God. In Romans x:2 he 
had written: "For I bear them record that they have a zeal 
for God, but not according to knowledge." 

Next, he illustrates that zeal for God, which characterized 
his career as a Pharisee. Like the assembled mob he had 
been a persecutor. But he avoids speaking of those he 
persecuted by name. "I persecuted this way unto death." 
All, however, knew what he meant by the expression "this 
way;" it had for them the meaning of the new sect, which 
had arisen in Judaism. The same term is used by Paul in 
Chapter xxiv:14. And how had he persecuted this new 
way, the believers in Jesus? Unto death, binding and deliv- 
ering into prisons both men and women. It was a confession 
of his persecuting zeal. The same confession we read in 
the beginning of the Epistle to the Galatians: "For ye have 
heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, 
how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, 
and wasted it; and profited in the Jews' religion above 
many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceed- 
ingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers" (Gal. i:13-14). 
After he had thus briefly referred to the fact that he had 
been once energized by the same hatred against this way, 
he appealed to the ecclesiastical authorities as a witness. 
He referred to the letters, which so many years ago he had 
received, to persecute the believing Jews in Damascus, 
the letters which were never delivered by him. May 
there not have been a few among his hearers, who then 
remembered the young Pharisee of bygone days, Saul of 
Tarsus? 



375 



Then he begins a brief sketch of a second chapter in his 
eventful life. 

2. The Story of his Conversion. The young Pharisee 
had disappeared suddenly from the scene, and his perse- 
cuting zeal had terminated abruptly. How then had it 
come about. 

And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come 
nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven 
a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and 
heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou 
me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto 
me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they 
that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they 
heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What 
shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into 
Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are 
appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see for the glory 
of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, 
I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according 
to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, 
came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive 
thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he 
said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest 
know His will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice 
of His mouth. For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what 
thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and 
be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the 
Lord. (Verses 6-16.) 

The remarkable incident we have already followed in our 
exposition of the ninth chapter. However, some very inter- 
esting details are added here by himself, the former account 
being the inspired historical record written by Luke. First, 
we note that it was at noon when the wonderful vision flashed 
before his eyes. While in Chapter ix we read of a light that 
shined from heaven about him, here he tells us that it was 
a great light, and in Chapter xxvi:13 Paul informs us that it 
was "above the brightness of the sun." In the eleventh verse 



376 



of our chapter he speaks of it as "glory"; even so it was glory 
of the risen and ascended Son of God. In Acts ix we read 
that the voice of the Lord said to him, "I am Jesus," but 
here a more detailed account is given by Paul, and from it we 
learn that the Lord had said, "I am Jesus of Nazareth." 
As that worthy and blessed Name was mentioned by Paul, 
what dark and threatening looks must have met his gaze 
from the up-turned faces! And from his witness they learned 
that this same Jesus, whom they had rejected, is the Lord, 
and that He lives in the Glory. Of Ananias, Paul does not 
speak as a disciple at all, but he calls him "a devout man 
according to the law," who had a good report of all the Jews 
in Damascus. In all this we have an evidence of the wisdom 
of Paul. He also avoided the word "Christ," though all 
knew whom he meant when he speaks of "that Just One." 
Thus he briefly had described how the Lord, the rejected 
Jesus of Nazareth, had appeared unto him.* 

3. The Divine Commission. He next touched upon an- 
other episode in his experience. The interesting account he 
gives here is not recorded in the ninth chapter. 

And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, 
even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; and saw him 
saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: 
for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. And I 
said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every syna- 
gogue them that believed on thee: and when the blood of thy 
martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting 
unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. And 
he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the 
Gentiles. (Verses 17-21.) 

*Some have found a difficulty in the fact that here Paul saith that 
his companions saw the light and heard not the voice, which spake 
with him. In chapter ix the record states that they heard the voice. 
There is no discrepancy here. They did hear the voice, but were not 
able to understand the words which were spoken. They saw no one; 
only Paul saw the Lord. 



377 



Once more the Lord had appeared unto him, while praying 
in the temple when he was in a trance. In this same temple 
which stretched out before him, all this had taken place. 
And what an evidence to them of his sincere character that 
he had gone to the temple to oifer up fervent prayers. He 
then repeats the words the Lord had spoken to him, "Make 
haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will 
not receive thy testimony concerning me." He himself now 
bound in chains, standing before the Jewish mob, was the 
living witness to the truth of these words. If he had but 
remembered those words and had followed completely the 
divine commission. 

At that time his loving heart for his own people had 
prompted an answer. He told the Lord that he had a pecu- 
liar fitness to bear the testimony to his brethren in the 
beloved city. Did they not know that he had imprisoned 
and beaten those that believed in Him? When the blood 
of Stephen, the martyr, was shed, did he not stand by and 
consent unto his death, keeping the raiment of those that 
slew him? It is beautiful to read these simple words of the 
intimate conversation Paul carried on with the Lord. And 
he could tell the Lord all about his sins and hatred against 
Himself and His own, recount once more the bitter persecu- 
tions he had practised and the part he took in Stephen's 
death. Here we have a beautiful example of a conscience 
which has been purged, and knows that all is right. All 
this Paul relates to prove to them his sincerity as well as 
love for his kinsmen. The last word the Lord had spoken 
to him at that time was a word of commission: "Depart, 
for I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles." The Lord 
had therefore called him to be the Apostle of the Gentiles. 
His defence was complete. He had fully demonstrated that 
he accusation against him was false, that he loved his 
people and the Lord Himself had called him to go to the 
Gentiles. 



378 



II. The Answer from the Mob and Paul's Appeal to his 
Roman Citizenship. 

And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up 
their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth; 
for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and 
cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, the chief captain 
commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he 
should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore 
they cried so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, 
Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you 
to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? When the 
centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, 
Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the 
chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? 
He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum 
obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free-bom. 
Then straightway they departed from him which should have ex- 
amined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew 
that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. On the 
morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore 
he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and 
commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and 
brought Paul down, and set him before them. (Verses 22-30.) 

They were impatient listeners, the storm broke with the 
word "Gentiles." Another great tumult resulted and the 
many voices demanded that such a fellow should not live. 
It was a scene of utmost confusion. All crying, gesticulating 
wildly, throwing dust in the air, one of the common occur- 
rences when Orientals get excited; they cast off their outer 
garments to do so. 

The chief captain seems to have been ignorant of the 
Aramaic dialect. He gave orders that Paul be now removed 
into the castle itself and be examined by scourging so that 
he might find out why they cried so against him. The 
torture was to be used to make him confess. He was led 
away, and everything made ready for the cruel treatment, 
when the prisoner spoke: "Is it lawful for you to scourge 



379 



a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?" The cen- 
turion reported this to the chiliarch, the chief officer, who 
at once appeared on the scene. When he discovered that 
Paul was indeed a Roman by birth, a. higher type of Roman 
citizenship than that which the chief captain had obtained 
by a great sum, they left their hands off of his person, and 
even the chiliarch was afraid. It was a highly illegal act to 
bind a Roman. Paul escaped the awful torture. 

Not a few had pointed to this as a prominent failure 
in the career of the Apostle. According to these critics 
he made a grave mistake when he pleaded his Roman 
citizenship; he should have been silent and taken the unjust 
and cruel treatment without a murmur. If some of these 
harsh critics of the beloved Apostle were placed in the 
same condition, what would they do? As one has truly 
said: "It is easy to be a martyr in theory, and such are 
seldom martyrs in practice." He had a perfect right to 
tell the ignorant officers of the law who he was, and thus 
prevent a flagrant and cruel transgression of the law. And 
yet his conduct in Philippi was far different. Why did 
he not announce his Roman citizenship then? The power 
of the Spirit rested then upon him; it is different here. 
He is not acting in the liberty and peace of the Spirit, a 
fact which becomes more apparent in the next chapter, where 
we see him before the Sanhedrim. 



380 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

In the last verse of the preceding chapter we read that 
the chief captain commanded that the chief priests and all 
the council should gather together. When this was accom- 
plished, Paul was brought down and set before them. We 
divide the chapter into four sections: 

I. Paul before the Sanhedrim (Verses 1-10). 

II. The vision of the Lord (Verse 11). 

III. The conspiracy against Paul and its discovery. 

IV. Paul taken to Cesarea (Verses 23-30). 

I. Paul before the Sanhedrim. 

And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and breth- 
ren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day J 
And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him 
to smite him on the mouth. Then said Paul unto him, God shall 
smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the 
law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? And 
they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest? Then 
said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is 
written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler- of thy people. But 
when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the 
other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I 
am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection 
of the dead I am called in question. And when he had so said, 
there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: 
and the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there 
is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees con- 
fess both. And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were 
of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no e\ il 
in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us 
not fight against God. And when there arose a great dissension, 
the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in 



381 



pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take 
him by force from among them and to bring him into the castle. 
(Verses 1-10.) 

For the last time, the Jewish council is mentioned in this 
book. Three times before the Sanhedrim had been called 
together in connection with those who believed in the Lord 
Jesus (ii:5; v:21 and vi:12-15). Peter and John, the twelve 
Apostles and Stephen, had to appear before the Sanhedrim 
and now Paul had to stand in the presence of the same body. 
Looking straight at the council, Paul did not wait for the 
formalities connected with the proceedings, but addressed 
the gathered Sanhedrim as men and brethren. This action 
shows that he did not consider himself at all an accused 
criminal. And strange are the words with which he opened 
his defence: "I have lived in all good conscience before God 
until this day." In this he made a public declaration of his 
righteousness, which reminds us of his confession as a Phar- 
isee (Phil. iii:4-6). This self-justification shows that he was 
not acting under the leading of the Holy Spirit. This bold 
language resulted in stirring up the anger of the high priest 
Ananias, who commanded that the bystanders should smite 
the Apostle on the mouth. And Paul was not slow to reply 
with a harsh word, calling the high priest "a whited wall" 
and demanding of God to smite him. No doubt the high 
priest was indeed a "whited wall" and fully deserved the 
judgment from God. But did Paul in speaking thus show 
the meekness of Him, whose servant he was? If Paul had 
been in the power of the Spirit and in the knowledge that 
he was doing the Lord's will, he would not have opened 
his mouth, nor acted in this hasty manner. However, the 
utterance he made*was fulfilled, for some time later Ananias 
was assassinated. Paul recovered himself, professing that 
he did not know the high priest, who had commanded the 
smiting. The words — "I knew not that it was the high priest" 
contain an apparent difficulty. The Apostle, so well ac- 



382 



quainted with the customs of the council, must have knoWri 
the high priest, both by the position he occupied and by the 
dress. Some have suggested that the Apostle was afflicted 
with a severe eye disease which blurred his vision. But this 
cannot be fully proven. The word "knew" seems to solve 
the difficulty. This word among the Jews has also the 
meaning "to acknowledge" or "to make recognition." For 
instance, it has that meaning in the exhortation "to know 
those who labor among you." Paul did not know the high 
priest may therefore mean that he did not want to acknowl- 
edge Ananias as the high priest, that he refused to recognize 
him as such. When Paul said he knew not that it was 
the high priest, he acknowledged his error he had made, in 
refusing to recognize the president of the council by ignoring 
him. This seems to solve the difficulty. 

The next utterance of the Apostle is still more strange. 
Once again he addresses the council as men and brethren. 
Then he cried "I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; 
of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in 
question." This is the third claim he makes and it shows 
how far he had drifted. He had claimed being a Jew, 
then had pleaded his Roman citizenship, and now before 
the council, he reminds them that he is a Pharisee and the 
son of a Pharisee. Later from his Roman prison he wrote 
to the Philippians that he counted this all as dung, r He 
had done so before. Here no doubt is a relapse. ihe 
reason which led him to do this was his knowledge that the 
Sanhedrim was composed of the two warring factions of 
Judaism, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. With his 
keen vision and knowledge of the conditions he saw the 
possible advantage of declaring himself a Pharisee. That 
might bring them to his side and end the difficulty in which 
he had become so seriously involved. Besides the con- 
fession that he is a prominent Pharisee, he stated the articles 
of the creed of the Pharisees which were so vigorously op- 



383 



posed by the Sadducees. He mentions "the hope'* and 
"resurrection of the dead," which was really in question. 
This was a true statement. The hope is the Messianic 
hope of the coming of the Messiah. He had come in the 
person of the Lord Jesus Christ and yet He is "the hope"; 
for He is coming again. The resurrection of the dead is 
closely connected with Christ and His coming. The Sad- 
ducees were the Rationalists, and denied, besides the ex- 
istence of spirits, the Messianic hope and the resurrection 
of the dead. A great discussion arose between these two 
parties. A big commotion followed. Some of the scribes 
belonging to the Pharisees cried loudly in defence of the 
prisoner — "We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or 
an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God." 
The latter sentence was a faint echo of the advice given 
by Gamaliel. The scene which followed beggars descrip- 
tion. The shouting must have been terrific and Paul 
was in danger of being pulled to pieces by the council mob. 
Lysias, the chief captain, was obliged to interfere. The 
soldiers, at his command, came down and rescued Paul 
and brought him into the castle. The cleverness of Paul 
had been the means of liberating him from the hands of 
the Sanhedrim. 

II. The vision of the Lord (Verse ll). 

And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of 
good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so 
must thou bear witness also at Rome. (Verse 2.) 

This is a most gracious and blessed fact, that now the 
Lord came into this scene of confusion and failure and 
in greatest tenderness to comfort and cheer His servant. 
One almost wishes it had pleased the Holy Ghost to give us 
a more detailed account of Paul in the castle that night 
and what took place. Two days had passed since the 



384 



arrest of Paul and they had been eventful days. His body 
was bruised and full of pain. But how he must have suffered 
in his spirit! All the warnings frequently uttered by the 
Spirit of God not to go up to Jerusalem came back to his 
mind. The failure of having not heeded these warnings 
must have weighed heavily upon him. And the disap- 
pointment he had suffered! It was burning love for his 
brethren which had led him to Jerusalem and now he had 
received the fullest evidence that they would not receive 
his testimony. Thinking of what he had done and failed 
must have greatly humbled the Apostle. And now he was a 
prisoner. His career in preaching the Gospel among the 
Gentiles and Jews had been cut short. No doubt left alone 
in the castle all these thoughts and others crowded in Upon 
him. There he sought his Lord in Prayer. What a prayer 
it must have been Paul prayed in the castle! How the 
tears must have flown as he told the Lord all, confessing his 
failure and telling Him of his disappointment! And then, 
not an angel, but the Lord, stood by him that night. His 
loving arms were around His servant. He appeared to 
cheer him and assure him of His love. 

There are three things especially to be noticed in the 
words of the Lord to Paul. He strengthened him by the 
encouraging word, "Be of good cheer." In the New Tes- 
tament this comforting expression is exclusively used by 
our Lord. And what a meaning it has coming from His 
lips! "Be of good cheer." Disheartening were Paul's 
experiences, perplexing his situation, dark and mysterious 
his future, but the Lord bade him to be of good cheer. 
What strength must have filled the Apostle's heart as these 
words came to him! And we too can hear the words of 
cheer from our Lord in the midst of our difficulties and 
failures. He is the same to-day as he was then in that 
night. With such a Lord at our side we need never to 
despair. 



385 



Then the Lord spoke peace into his humbled breast and 
calmed all the feelings and questionings which had risen in 
Paul's mind. How little, Paul may have said to himself, 
I told the Jews about my Lord and the Gospel! My tes- 
timony was not as faithful as it should have been. But 
now the Lord tells him that he had testified of Him in Jeru- 
salem. It is even stronger in the original: "thou hast borne 
full witness." What Grace is this! The Lord told him 
that he had after all borne witness of Him. He did not 
remind him of his mistakes, his faults, and how he might 
have avoided them, but He reminds him of his faithfulness. 
Such is our Lord in His gracious dealings with His servants. 
All his questionings were ended. He knew all was right 
between the Lord and himself and that he was under His 
gracious and loving care. And then the Lord assures 
him also of future service. He had not yet reached the 
end of his labors. "Thou must bear witness also at Rome." 
Rome then is his goal, which he has to reach as the prisoner 
of the Lord. How all this must have set him at rest! The 
Lord was with him and would bring him to Rome. And 
that Lord is with us and shall guide and provide for His 
servants. May our hearts be comforted and encouraged 
by Paul's experience during that night in the castle. 

III. The conspiracy against Paul and its discovery. 

And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and 
bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat 
nor drink till they had killed Paul. And they were more than 
forty which had made this conspiracy. And they came to the chief 
priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a 
great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. 
Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that 
he bring him down unto you to-morrow, as though ye would in- 
quire something more perfectly concerning him; and we, or ever 
he come near, are ready to kill him. And when Paul's sister's son 
heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, 



386 



and told Paul. Then Paul called one of the Centurions Unto him, 
and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath 
a certain thing to tell him. So he took him, and brought him to 
the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, 
and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath some- 
thing to say unto thee. Then the chief captain took him by the 
hand, and went with him aside privately and asked him, What 
is that thou hast to tell me? And he said, The Jews have agreed 
to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to-morrow into 
the council, as though they would inquire somewhat of him more 
perfectly. But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait 
for him of them more than forty men, which have bound them- 
selves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they 
have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise 
from thee. So the chief captain then let the young man depart, 
and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these 
things to me. (Verses 12-22.) 

The conspiracy against Paul reveals the condition of 
the nation. Jerusalem had indeed become a city of mur- 
derers (Isaiah i:21). More than forty had made a re- 
ligious vow that they would kill Paul. The plan is laid 
and everything ready for its execution. But they had not 
reckoned with Paul's Lord. He was in His own hands 
and not in the hands of the Jews or the Gentiles, even as 
the life of all His servants rests in His omnipotent hand. 
The plot is discovered. A nephew of Paul was the chosen 
instrument. Paul's sister, of whom we have no other 
knowledge apart from this passage, must have been a 
person of influence, for the son heard of the secret council 
and had likewise access into the castle. The chief captain 
heard of the plot from the lips of the young man and was 
now deeply concerned about Paul and his safety. This 
was the result of the knowledge this chief officer had gained, 
that Paul was a Roman citizen. The record needs not 
further comment. What now follows is all under His 
control, who had promised Paul that he would have to 
witness in Rome for Him. 



387 



IV. Paul taken to Cesarea. 

And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two 
hundred soldiers to go to Cesarea, and horsemen threescore and 
ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; And 
provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe 
unto Felix the governor. And he wrote a letter after this manner: 
Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth 
greeting. This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been 
killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, hav- 
ing understood that he was a Roman. And when I would have 
known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth 
into their council: Whom I perceived to be accused of questions 
of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of 
death or of bonds. And when it was told me how that the Jews 
laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave com- 
mandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had 
against him. Farewell. Then the soldiers, as it was commanded 
them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris. On 
the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned 
to the castle. Who, when they came to Cesarea, and delivered the 
epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him. And 
when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province 
he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia; I will 
hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he 
commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall. (Verses 
23-35.) 

The prisoner of the Lord is now delivered into the hands 
of the Gentiles. A large force of soldiers accompanied 
Paul for his protection, while horses were also supplied to 
the Apostle. The danger was great, hence, the great pre- 
caution the chief officer, whose name is now mentioned, 
Claudius Lysias had taken. Could we have read in Paul's 
own heart we would have seen there the peace of Christ; 
the words of His Lord still resounded in that faithful and 
devoted heart — "Be of good cheer." 

The letter of Claudius Lysias to the governor Felix is 
interesting. It shows how Lysias claims the full credit 
of having rescued Paul, because he was a Roman. He 



388 



declares him innocent, yet delivers him into the hands of 
the governor. 

One would also like to know what had become of the 
forty conspirators. If they were true to their vow not 
to eat nor to drink till Paul had been killed, they must 
have starved to death, which, we are sure did not happen. 
Cesarea is reached in safety and Paul is delivered into the 
hands of the governor, who promised him a hearing as 
soon as the accusers would arrive. Jerusalem now laid 
forever behind him. Rome was before him. 



389 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

The account of the trial of the Apostle Paul before the 
Governor Felix and how this trial terminated is reported 
in this chapter. 

I. The indictment of Paul (Verses 1-9). 

II. The defence of the Apostle (Verses 10-21). 

III. How Felix disposed of the case (Verses 22-23). 

IV. Paul addresses Felix (Verses 24-27). 

I. The indictment of Paul. 

And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with 
the elders and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who in- 
formed the governor against Paul. And when he was called 
forth, Tertullus began to accuse him y saying, Seeing that by 
thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are 
done unto this nation by thy providence. We accept it always, 
and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Not- 
withstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray 
thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words. 
For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of 
sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader 
of the sect of the Nazarenes. Who also hath gone about to pro- 
fane the temple: whom we took and would have judged according 
to our law. But the chief captain Lysias came upon us t and with . 
great violence took him away out of our hands. Commanding 
his accusers to come unto thee; by examining of whom thyself 
mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him. 
And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so. 
(Verses 1-9.) 

If the Jews, after Paul's removal from Jerusalem, had 
not pressed the case against him, he would have been liber- 
ated. As he had gone years ago to Damsacus to perse- 



390 



cute the Christians there, so now the Jews follow him to 
Cesarea to accuse him before the Roman governor. They 
evidently did not lose any time. Only a few days had 
elapsed when a strong deputation from Jerusalem appeared 
in Cesarea. The high priest filled with much hatred 
against Paul had taken it upon himself to come in person. 
This must have been an unusual occurrence for a person 
of Ananias' standing to leave Jerusalem. He came not 
alone but brought with him the elders and a professional 
Roman lawyer Tertullus. No doubt the scheme of indict- 
ment was cleverly laid and the high priest must have counted 
much on his personal presence and on the eloquence of the 
hired lawyer. God was left out completely. 

The address of Tertullus is characteristically Roman. 
He pays a flattering tribute to Felix, which however fell 
on barren ground. That official knew well the hollowness 
of these compliments. The words Tertullus used against 
the great man of God are extremely vile and manifest 
the hiss of the serpent. He calls him "a pestilent fellow," 
a person of whom society may well be rid of. The indict- 
ment contains three counts. First stands a political accu- 
sation. This, in presence of the high Roman officer, was 
of the greatest importance. Any conspiracy against the 
Roman government was a capital offence. The charge of 
sedition or treason was thus at once laid at the door of the 
Apostle. The second offence Tertullus brought against 
Paul was of a religious nature. As ringleader of the Naza- 
renes, presented by him as a sect of the Jews, he had abetted 
that which was against the peace of Judaism and intro- 
duced not alone a disturbing element, but had transgressed 
another Roman law, which forbade the introduction of 
.unrecognized religious sects. The third charge was the 
profanation of the temple. If this last charge could have 
been proven against Paul the sentence of ^eath would 
have fallen against him. 



391 



The address of Tertullus is most likely not reported 
in full. There is a difficulty about the words "and would 
have judged according to our law, but the chief captain 
Lysias came upon us and with great violence took him 
away out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come 
unto thee." In some of the oldest manuscripts these 
words are not found; in the manuscripts in which they are 
found variations occur. The critical school has ruled 
them out. The chief reason given besides the textual diffi- 
culty is because the Jews would not have accused Lysias. 
We believe the words are genuine and that they belong in 
the text. If they are omitted the words "by examining 
of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things 
whereof we accuse him" must be applied to Paul. But 
that was against Roman customs that the judge should 
be referred to the prisoner. If they are not omitted then 
Tertullus meant that Lysias should himself be examined. 
Verse 22 settles the difficulty. Felix said that he would 

" delay his decision till Lysias would arrive. 

When Tertullus had completed his speech, the Jews, 

- Ananias and his elders fully endorsed the statements of 
their lawyer. 

II. The defence of the Apostle. 

Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him 
to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been 
of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheer- 
fully answer for myself: Because that thou mayest understand, 
that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusa- 
lem for to worship. And they neither found me in the temple 
disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither 
in the synagogues, nor in the city: Neither can they prove the 
things whereof they now accuse me. But this I confess unto 
thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I 
the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the 
law and in the prophets: And have hope toward God, which 
they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the 



392 



dead, both of the just and unjust. And herein do I exercise 
myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, 
and toward men. Now after many years I came to bring alms 
to my nation, and offerings. Whereupon certain Jews from 
Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor 
with tumult. Who ought to have been here before thee, and 
object, if they had aught against me. Or else let these same here 
say, if they have found any evil doing in me while I stood before 
the council, Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing 
among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called 
in question by you this day. (Verses 10-21.) 

For the third time in the history of this book, Paul ad- 
dresses a Roman officer of high rank, Gallio and Sergius 
Paulus were the others. His defence is masterly. The Spirit 
of God helped him now as he faced his cunning accusers 
and his judge. No flattery is used by him. Any kind of 
flattery is unworthy of a Christian. The flattering tongue is 
the serpent's tongue. "A flattering mouth worketh ruin" 
(Prov. xxvi:28). "A man that flattereth with his tongue 
spreadeth a net for his feet" (Prov. xxix:5). "The Lord 
shall cut off all flattering lips" (Psalm xii:3). Paul only 
refers to the fact that Felix was a judge appointed over 
the nation for many years. His innocence is apparent in 
the cheerful manner in which he begins his defence. His 
address contains a denial of the first charge; a confession 
and admission concerning the second, and a complete vindica- 
tion of the accusation of the temple profanation. 

He points first of all to the fact that only twelve days had 
elapsed since his arrival in Jerusalem and that he did not 
go there to cause an insurrection against the Roman au- 
thorities, but to worship. He did not congregate a crowd. 
He did not dispute openly (as Stephen did) nor did he 
incite the Jews in the synagogues or in the city to rebellion. 
Boldly he asserts that they have no proof whatever against 
him as a political offender. 

But it was different with the second count of Tertullus' 



393 



indictment. Here he admits the fact that "the way" which 
they call heresy, faith in Christ, is his way of worshipping 
the God of his fathers. But this way did not change his 
belief in the law and the prophets, as the accusation might 
have implied. Then he speaks of hope toward God, the 
resurrection of the dead, both the just and the unjust. He 
also testifies of his own life and walk as a believer in the 
way in which he served God. He had used self-discipline > 
to have a conscience void of offence toward God and men. 
The great truth he held and for which he had been im- 
prisoned, resulted in a righteous life. In a brief word, he 
speaks of his own love for the nation, and states one of the 
purposes of his visit to Jerusalem to bring alms and offer- 
ings to his nation. How simple, yet masterly, all this was 
put. 

But the last charge had to be refuted. The falsity of 
what Tertullus had accused him he proves in a few well- 
chosen words. He had been in the temple, but not to pro- 
fane it. There was no multitude; there was no tumult 
from his side. No witnesses were present to substantiate 
the charge of the profanation of the temple. He even 
appealed to Ananias and the elders to speak if any evil 
had been found in him when he had appeared before the 
Council. He readily owns the statement he had made 
touching resurrection, the words which precipitated the riot. 
He had proven the injustice of the charges and by his honest 
admissions demonstrated his innocence. 

III. How Felix disposed of the case. 

And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect know- 
ledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the 
chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your 
matter. And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul and to 
let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his ac- 
quaintance to minister or come unto him. (Verses 22-23.) 



394 



Felix had more perfect knowledge of the way. He 
was acquainted with the truths concerning Christ and 
with Christianity, though he himself was not walking in 
the way. He knew that the accusations were not true. 
He refuses a decision. Justice demanded that Paul should 
be set at liberty. However, Felix defers it all to the time 
when Lysias, the chief captain, came to Cesarea. But 
Lysias never showed up. Paul was kept a prisoner. A 
second hearing before Felix he never received; but Felix 
heard Paul, as we read in the concluding paragraph of this 
chapter. 

IV. Paul addresses Felix. 

And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, 
which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning 
the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, tem- 
perance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, 
Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will 
call for thee. He hoped also that money should have been given 
him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him 
the oftener, and communed with him. But, after two years 
Porcius Festus came into Felix' room: and Felix, willing to shew 
the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound. (Verses 24-27.) 

Felix was married three times. His w T ife, Drusilla, men- 
tioned here, was a daughter of Herod, that is Agrippa I, 
who slew James. Drusilla's brother was the Agrippa men- 
tioned in the twenty-sixth chapter of our book. Drusilla 
had been married to the King of Emesa. She had aban- 
doned him for Felix, and was at that time not yet 20 
years old, According to some authorities it was she who 
expressed the desire to hear the Apostle speak concerning 
the faith of Christ. No doubt it was mere curiosity, if 
not to ridicule the servant of the Lord. Where the audience 
took place is not stated. 

Paul knew undoubtedly Felix and Drusilla's history. The 
prisoner becomes judge. Instead of satisfying their curw 



393 

osity, he speaks boldly truths concerning righteousness, tem- 
perance and judgment to come which uncovered the wicked 
doings of the pair and touched the conscience of Felix. 
He trembled as he saw his heart laid bare and got a glimpse 
of judgment to come. He refused the solemn message 
and therefore Paul could not present to him the blessed 
Gospel. 

The address of Paul was not completed. Felix broke 
it of! and dismissed the preacher with that familiar excuse, 
which has led countless souls to eternal ruin, "when I have 
a convenient season I will call for thee." He did send often 
for him and communed with him, but it was not to learn 
the way of life. He expected a bribe from Paul so that he 
might purchase his liberty. The Apostle remained a pris- 
oner in Cesarea for two years. No doubt during this time 
he enjoyed the fellowship of the saints. Besides Luke, 
Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with Paul. 
We doubt not with the liberty granted unto the Apostle 
he had many opportunities to minister the Word. Perhaps 
it was during these two years that Luke, the beloved physi- 
cian, was moved to write the Gospel record which bears his 
name and which was addressed to Theophilus. 

Felix left Paul behind as prisoner, thinking to show the 
Jews a favor. Porcius Festus became governor in the place 
of Felix. 



396 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Over two years before the history contained in the pres- 
ent chapter transpired, the Lord had spoken to Paul during 
that memorable night in the castle Antonia, "Be of good 
cheer, Paul; for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, 
so must thou bear witness also in Rome." In this chapter 
we approach the end of this book. Paul appealed to Caesar, 
and the new governor answered him, "Unto Caesar shalt thou 
go." After his great speech before King Agrippa, we have 
the record of the journey, the shipwreck and his arrival in 
Rome and his presence there. With this the great historical 
book of the Acts closes. 

I. Festus and the Jews. Paul appeals to Caesar. 

II. King Agrippa visits Festus (Verses 13-22). 
HI. Paul brought before the King (Verses 23-27). 

I. Festus and the Jews. Paul appeals to Caesar. 

Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days 
he ascended from Cesarea to Jerusalem. Then the high priest and 
the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought 
him. And desired favor against him, that he would send for him 
to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him. But Festus 
answered, that Paul should be kept at Cesarea, and that he himself 
would depart shortly thither. Let them therefore, said he, which 
among you are able, go down with me y and accuse this man, if 
there be any wickedness in him. And when he had tarried among 
them more than ten days, he went down unto Cesarea; and the 
next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be 
brought. And when he was come, the Jews which came down 
from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous 
complaints against Paul, which they could not prove. While he 
answered for himself, neither against the law of the Jews, neither 



397 



against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any 
thing at all. But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, an- 
swered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there 
be judged of these things before me? Then said Paul, I stand 
at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews 
have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be 
an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse 
not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these 
accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto 
Caesar. Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, 
answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou 
go. (Verses 1-12.) 

The new governor, Festus, had arrived at Cesarea, and 
then went up to Jerusalem, the capital of the province. The 
Jews had not forgotten Paul, though they had not attempted 
another accusation before Felix, knowing that the case was 
hopeless. But they made at once an effort with the new 
governor. No sooner had this official made his appearance 
in Jerusalem, but the high priest and the chief of the Jews 
made a report about Paul. Most likely Festus had not even 
heard of Paul up to that time. Ananias was no longer high 
priest; Ishmael Ben Phabi had taken the office. What really 
took place in Jerusalem,. Festus later relates to Agrippa. 
When Paul was presented to Agrippa, Festus introduced him 
by saying, "Ye see this man, about whom all the multitude 
of the Jews have dealt with me both at Jerusalem, and 
also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer" 
(verse 24). A scene of tumult must have been enacted in 
Jerusalem when Festus showed himself. The mob clamored 
for the life of Paul. When they noticed the reluctance of the 
governor, they concocted another plan. They requested that 
Paul should be brought to Jerusalem. On the way there they 
intended to murder him. 

Why did not Festus fall in line with this suggestion? 
When he saw Paul face to face he asked him the question 
if he would go up to Jerusalem to be judged there. Why 



398 



then did he not consent to the proposal of the Jews? He 
knew nothing of the murderous plot against Paul. It was 
God who kept him from granting the desire of the Jews. 
That eye which neither sleeps nor slumbers kept watch 
over Paul as it still does over every 'child of God. Festus 
demanded instead that some Jews should come to Cesarea 
and accuse Paul and he would hear the case. After he 
had tarried in Jerusalem for over ten days, he returned to 
Cesarea. Paul then appeared before him for trial and the 
Jews were there from Jerusalem. But it was a wild scene 
again. They brought many and grievous complaints against 
Paul, but they could not prove anything. This failure must 
have been the source of much excitement. It was then 
that the same scene which took place in Jerusalem was 
gone through once more. They cried out that he should 
not live any longer (verse 24). 

But how calm the Apostle stands in the midst of that 
scene of turmoil. His words are brief and positive. "Neither 
against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor 
yet against Caesar have I offended anything at all." This 
shows that the same accusations were brought against him. 

Festus remembered the former request of the Jews to 
have Paul in Jerusalem. To please them he asked Paul if 
he would go to Jerusalem. He refuses to be delivered unto 
them. If he is an offender, he is ready, to die. Then it was 
when he appealed unto Caesar. Did he do wrong? Cer- 
tainly not. He knew the Lord's will that he had to testify 
in Rome. Rome was the goal before him. He acted in 
this according to the will of God. Festus and Agrippa later 
declared that he might have been set at liberty, if he had 
not appealed unto Caesar. It was not lack of faith Paul 
exhibited in appealing to Caesar, but an evidence of faith 
and submission to the will of the Lord. Festus held a meet- 
ing with his council and declared, "Unto Caesar thou shalt 
go. 



399 



II. King Agrippa visits Festus. 

And after certain days King Agrippa and Bernice came unto 
Cesarea to salute Festus. And when they had been there many 
days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, There is a 
certain man left in bonds by Felix: About whom, when I was at 
Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed 
me> desiring to have judgment against him. To whom I answered, 
It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, 
before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and 
have license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against 
him. Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay 
on the morrow, I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the 
man to be brought forth. Against whom when the accusers 
stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I sup- 
posed: But had certain questions against him of their own super- 
stition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed 
to be alive. And because I doubted of such manner of questions, 
I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be 
judged of these matters. But when Paul had appealed to be 
reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be 
kept till I might send him to Cesar. Then Agrippa said unto 
Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To-morrow, said he, 
thou shalt hear him. (Verses 13-22.) 

Agrippa and Bernice paid a visit to the new governor. 
The father of this king was known as Herod Agrippa and 
died under awful circumstances (Chapter xii) in the year 
44, When his father died Agrippa was in Rome. He 
was too young to receive the kingdom of his father 
Herod. Eight years later, Herod, King of Chalcis, the uncle 
of Agrippa, died. He had married Agrippa's sister Bernice, 
and Caesar gave Chalcis to Agrippa. Later Agrippa received 
the title as king. Agrippa I had left three daughters besides 
this son — Bernice, Marianne and Drusilla, the wife of Felix. 
Bernice, who was the wife of her uncle, after his death 
joined her brother Agrippa in Rome. She married a Celician 
ruler, but deserted him and joined again her brother, in whose 
company she paid this visit to Cesarea. 



400 



The coming of King Agrippa solved the dilemma of Festus. 
He knew little of the case, yet he was expected to make 
in the so-called "letters demissory," a full statement of the 
case. Agrippa was a Jew and he was also thoroughly Roman, 
so that Festus could expect help from him in knowing the 
facts about his prisoner. After the visit had lasted many 
days, Festus lays the case of Paul before Agrippa. No 
further comment is needed on the words of Festus. He 
shows his ignorance as a Roman heathen of the Lord Jesus 
and His resurrection, when he calls this great event a Jewish 
superstition. Agrippa then expressed a desire to hear the 
man and Festus was only too willing to show this favor to the 
king. 

III. Paul before the King. 

And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with 
great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the 
chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus' command- 
ment, Paul was brought forth. And Festus said, King Agrippa, 
and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, 
about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, 
both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to 
live any longer. But when I found that he had committed nothing 
worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, 
I have determined to send him. Of whom I have no certain thing 
to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth be- , 
fore you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after 
examination had, I might have somewhat to write. For it seemeth 
to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify 
the crimes laid against him. (Verses 23-27.) 

The presentation of Paul was made a state occasion. 
Agrippa and his wicked sister Bernice appeared in royal 
splendor and all the military and civic officials turned out. 
It must have been a splendid gathering which had come 
together in the audience chamber. After they had all 
entered and taken their places, the rattling of a chain was 
heard and Paul was led into the presence of the assembled 



401 



company. What a contrast! Perhaps they looked upon him 
with pity as they saw the chain. But more pity must have 
filled the heart of the great servant of Christ as he saw the 
poor lost souls bedecked with the miserable tinsel of earth. 
Festus addressed the King and the whole company. He 
frankly states what troubled him and that he expects the 
King to furnish the material for the statements he had, as 
governor, to send to Rome. 



402 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

"Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted 
to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand 
and answered for himself." But his great address before 
the King is not so much a defence of himself; he speaks 
of the Lord and His gracious dealings with himself. The 
Lord's own words concerning Paul are again accomplished. 

"He is a chosen vessel with me to bear my name before 
Gentiles and Kings and the children of Israel" (ix:15). 
He bears now witness to His Name before a King. 

I. The Address of the Apostle Paul (Verses 2-23). 

II. The Interruption by Festus and the Appeal to the 
King (Verses 24-29). 

III. The Verdict (Verses 30-32). 

I. The Address of the Apostle Paul. This is no doubt 
the greatest of his addresses. It has several parts. 

1. The Opening Words. 

I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for 
myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am 
accused of the Jews: Especially because I know thee to be expert 
in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore 
I beseech thee to hear me patiently. (Verses 2-3.) 

These are gracious words. Even as he stands in chains 
the great Apostle counts himself happy. His happiness 
consisted in the knowledge that he was now privileged to 
bear witness of His Lord and the Gospel committed to 
him before such an audience. What an opportunity it 
was to him and how he rejoiced that he could speak of 
Him, whom he served. He also honored the King by a 



403 



brief remark, in which he expressed his delight in speaking 
before one who was so fully acquainted with Jewish customs 
and questions. 

2. A Restatement of his Past Life as a Pharisee. 

My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among 
mine own nation at Jersualem, know all the Jews; which knew me 
from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most 
straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand 
and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto 
our fathers: Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly 
serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, 
king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought 
a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead ? I verily 
thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to 
the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jeru- 
salem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having re- 
ceived authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to 
death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in 
every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being ex- 
ceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange 
cities. (Verses 4-11.) 

Similar statements we find in his first address as prisoner 
when he addressed the Jewish multitudes in the temple 
(Chapter xxii:3-5). Here, however, he enters more into 
the character of the accusation brought against him. He 
had lived conscientiously as a Pharisee. As such he had 
believed and trusted in the hope of the promise made of 
God unto the fathers. The twelve tribes, that is all Israel 
serving God instantly, expected the realization of this 
promised hope. This hope is the national one of the na- 
tion's future glory and blessing. But it centers in the Person 
of the Messiah, Christ. He is the hope of Israel, abun- 
dantly borne witness to by the Prophets of God,whose 
testimony concerning the future of Israel is always linked 
with the Holy One, the Redeemer, and His manifestation 
in the midst of Israel. Thus Paul establishes the fact that 



404 



he is one in hope and spirit with the nation in their expec- 
tation of the fulfilment of the promises of God. And 
on account of this hope, he told the King he was accused 
of the Jews. 

At once he touches upon the resurrection of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Why should it be thought a thing incredible 
with you, that God should raise the dead? The whole 
history of Israel bears witness to the fact, that God can 
bring life from the dead. The very origin of the nation 
demonstrates this, for Sarah's womb was a grave and God 
brought life out of that grave. Many promises of the 
past vouched for God's power to raise the dead. The 
nation had this promise that spiritual and national death 
is to give way to spiritual and national life (Ezek. xxxvii:l-15; 
Hosea vi:l-3). The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ 
proved Him to be the Holy One and the Hope of Israel. 
In this sense Peter speaks of His resurrection. "Blessed 
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ac- 
cording to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again 
to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from 
the dead" (1 Pet. i:3). The grave of the Lord Jesus was 
for the disciples the grave of their national hope, but His 
resurrection from the dead the' revival of that hope. 

Then once more the Apostle tells of how he persecuted 
the saints and did many things ' contrary to the name of 
Jesus of Nazareth. It is the darkest picture he gives here 
of himself. He shut up the saints in prison, he voted their 
death, he punished them in synagogues, he compelled 
them to blaspheme, he raved against them and even per- 
secuted them in strange cities. And upon that dark back- 
ground he can now flash forth once more the story of his 
conversion. 

3. The Heavenly Vision. 

Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commis- 



405 



sion from the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw in the way 
a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round 
about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were 
all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and 
saying in the Hebrew tongue,. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 
it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art 
thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But 
rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for 
this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these 
things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will 
appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the 
Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee. (Verses 12-17.) 

Once more, for the last time in this book, the record 
of his remarkable experience is given. As we have given 
an exposition of it before we need not enter into it again. 
The comparison of the different records will show that 
they are complementary and not contradictory as often 
claimed. He tells here especially of the quality of the light 
which burst from heaven upon him. It was above the 
brightness of the sun, the glory light of Him, whose mem- 
bers on earth he had persecuted. Some day the same 
glory will flash forth once more and that future manifes- 
tation of the Lord will mark the conversion of the nation. 
Paul's experience is a type of all this. Then he had re- 
ceived his divine commission. He was to be a minister 
and a witness of things he had seen and he were yet to see. 
The latter refer to the subsequent revelations he received 
from the Lord. But his special ministry was to the Gentiles 
"unto whom now I send thee." 

4. The Gospel Message Declared. 

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and 
from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgive- 
ness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by 
faith that is in me. (Verse 18.) 



This may be looked upon as the center of the Apostle's 



406 



address. Now the proper moment had arrived to state the 
Gospel message before this company. It is a terse state- 
ment of the message which the Lord had committed 'unto 
him. All the elements of the Gospel are contained in 
this verse. There is first the condition of man by nature. 
Eyes, which are blind, in darkness, under the power of 
Satan. The eyes are to be opened and through the Gospel 
man is turned from darkness to light, from the power of 
Satan unto God. In Colossians i:12 the same is stated. 
Then the blessings of conversion. Forgiveness of sins and 
an inheritance. Faith is the means of all this; sanctifl- 
cation, that is separation, in conversion "by faith that 
is in me." One wonders if the Holy Spirit even then did 
not bless the message to some heart and the Grace of God 
bestowed these blessings upon some believing sinners. 
It may have been so. The day will make it known 

5. The Obedience to the Heavenly Vision. 

Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the 
heavenly vision: but shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at 
Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the 
Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works 
meet for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught me in the 
temple, and went about to kill me. Having therefore obtained help 
of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and 
great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and 
Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he 
should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew 
light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. (Verses 19-23.) 

He had been obedient to the heavenly vision. How 
else could it be? His whole life was given up in service to 
Him, whose Glory he had seen, whose Grace had so won- 
derfully saved him. In verse 20 he sums up the untir- 
ing activity of his life and service. He tells King Agrippa 
in a brief sentence of the murderous attempt of the Jews. 
Furthermore he gives God the glory for having kept him 



407 



through the dark experience since his arrest so that he 
can continue his witnessing. All his teaching and preach- 
ing had been in agreement with the testimony of the Proph- 
ets. Christ should suffer, rise from the dead and blessing 
for the people (Jews) and the Gentiles should be the result. 

II. The Interruption by Festus and the Appeal to the 
King. 

And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, 
Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. 
But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the 
words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these 
things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that 
none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not 
done in a corner. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I 
know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost 
thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to 
God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were 
both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. 
(Verses 24-29.) 

Festus, the Gentile, ignorant of much what Paul so 
blessedly declared and yet deeply impressed with the pris- 
oner's eloquent enthusiasm, interrupted him. "Thou art 
beside thyself" — "much learning doth make thee mad." 
Thus the Lord himself had been charged (Mark iii:21; 
John x:20). Paul in a courteous answer tells the startled 
Festus that his words were not words of a mad man, but 
words of truth and soberness. The words of a Spirit guided 
and Spirit filled man are always such. Then Paul turns 
to the King and appeals to him. The Jewish King knew 
that the things he had declared were not inventions of 
a diseased brain but facts. The facts he had related had 
not taken place in some obscure corner. The King knew 
of the appearance of Christ, of His death and all the other 
related events. Perhaps the uneasiness of the King as 
the matter was directly put before him led to the bold 



408 



question of the prisoner. The one who was questioned 
concerning his life now turns questioner. "King Agrippa, 
believest thou the prophets? I knew that thou believest." 
The King was thus brought face to face with the important 
message. Decision is demanded. Could he, the Jewish 
King, in the presence of such an audience of Jews and 
Gentiles commit himself? I know that thou believest, 
was the declaration of the inspired messenger. He could 
not deny the fact that he did believe the prophets and 
he would not confess that he accepted the facts as stated 
by Paul and that he believed. It was a clever word by 
which he escaped the difficulty. "Almost thou persuadest 
me to be a Christian." The meaning is rather "by a little 
more persuasion you might make me a Christian." No 
doubt conviction had taken hold on him. In this half 
mocking way he answers the Apostle. How many after 
him have acted in the same way and rejected the Grace, 
which stood ready to save. 

And then that great heart of the Apostle Paul, filled 
with divine, yearning love, bursts forth in a prayer for 
the convicted King and the whole company. "I would 
to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this 
day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except 
these bonds." What a memorable event! Paul before 
Agrippa and divine love pleading through the prisoner 
of the Lord. 

III. The Verdict. 

And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, 
and Bernice, and they that sat with them. And when they were 
gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth . 
nothing worthy of death or of bonds. Then said Agrippa unto 
Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not ap- 
pealed unto Caesar. (Verses 30-32.) 



The audience was over, for the King rose up and that 



409 



was the signal of the breaking up of the company, never 
to meet thus again. The verdict of a private consulta- 
tion is "This Man doeth nothing worthy of death." Herod 
Agrippa said unto Festus "This man might have been set 
at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.'' If Paul 
had not made his appeal to Caesar he might have then 
be freed. We have seen before that his appeal to Rome 
was according to the will of the Lord. To Rome then 
he goes. All is ordered by a gracious Lord. 



410 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

The remarkable book now draws to its close. The 
journey towards Rome and the Apostle's presence in Rome 
as a prisoner brings us to the end of the record. Shipwreck 
and the chief actor of the greater part of this book in a 
prison conclude the story of the beginnings of the church 
on earth. Behind the historical account one may easily 
see the stormy voyage of the professing church; her adver- 
sities, tossing about and shipwreck. However, such an 
application needs caution. It is easy to step into fanciful 
and far-fetched allegorical teaching. Besides church his- 
tory other applications have been made of this narrative. 
A commentator claims that the keynote to the inter- 
pretation is given in verse 34 in the word salvation. 
"This and cognate words occur seven times in the chapter: 
Hope to be saved; ye cannot be saved; to be completely saved. 
While the contrary fate is no less richly depicted — injury, 
loss, throwing away, perish, kill and to be cast away. The 
history, then, is a parable of the great salvation, by which 
man is brought through death to life." We shall not 
attempt to seek for an outline of church history in the 
events of this chapter. Here and there we shall touch 
upon a few lessons suggested by the account of the voyage. 
The central figure, the prisoner of the Lord, shall occupy 
us more than anything else. It is said that in all the classi- 
cal literature there is nothing found which gives so much 
information of the working of an ancient ship as this chapter 
does. Even the critics have acknowledged that this chap- 
ter "bears the most indisputable marks of authenticity." 
''Historical research and inscriptions have confirmed the 
facts given in this chapter, while the accuracy of Luke's. 



411 



nautical observations is shown by the great help he has 
given to our understanding of ancient seamanship. None 
have impunged the correctness of his phrases; on the con- 
trary, from his description contained in a few sentences, 
the scene of the wreck has been identified."* The whole 
account is most clearly proven by a work of wide research 
on "The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul," by James 
Smith. 

We follow then briefly the different stages of the Apostle's 
journey towards Rome. 

I. From Cesarea to Fair Havens (Verses 1-8). 

II. The Unheeded Warning. The Storm. Paul's Vision 
and Assurance of Safety (Verses 9-26). 

III. The Shipwreck (Verses 27-44). 

I. From Cesarea to Fair Havens. 

And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, 
they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named 
Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. And entering into a 
ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts 
of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being 
with us. And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius 
courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his 
friends to refresh himself. And when we had launched from 
thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were con- 
trary. And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pam- 
phylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. And there the cen- 
turion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put 
us therein. And when we had sailed slowly many days, and 
scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering 
us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone; And, hardly 
passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; 
nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea. (Verses 1-8.) 

Some time must have elapsed after the memorable speech 



*Richard B. Rackham on Acts. 



412 



before Agrippa and the beginning of the journey. Perhaps 
the certain other prisoners had first to be gathered and 
then Paul with the others were delivered to a centurion 
of Augustus' band, named Julius. The great Apostle with 
all the wealth of divine revelation is now in custody of a 
Roman officer. From the second verse we learn that 
besides the beloved physician and inspired author of this 
book, Luke, Aristarchus was also on board. In chapter 
xxi:18 we learned that he was then also with the Apostle. 
Later in writing from Rome Paul calls Aristarchus, his 
fellow prisoner (Col. ii:10), which however, does not 
necessarily mean that he was carried along as a prisoner. 
Had he been arrested with the Apostle as some have stated, 
surmising that he was with Paul in the temple, when the 
mob fell on him, then surely some statements to that effect 
would have been made before. Julius treated Paul with 
much leniency. He knew of course the verdict given 
by Herod Agrippa, that he was not guilty and might have 
been a free man had he not appealed to Caesar. At Sidon, 
where they landed, Paul is permitted to visit his friends 
and to refresh himself. Most likely Paul was in a physically 
weakened condition so that Julius entreated him to leave 
the ship. The Lord's gracious and loving care for His 
faithful servant shines out in this. How clearly the whole 
narrative shows that all is in His hands: officers, winds 
and waves, all circumstances, are under His control. So 
far all seemed to go well; but contrary winds now trouble 
the voyagers. The ship is tossed to and fro. If we look 
upon the ship as a type of the professing church and the 
little company, headed by Paul, as the true church, then 
there is no difficulty in seeing the issue. Winds which 
drive hither and thither trouble those who hold the truth 
and live in fellowship with the Lord, while the profess- 
ing church is cast about. Then Myra was reached. Here 
they took a ship of Alexandria. The expositors who at- 



413 



tempt to trace the history of the church in the account 
see much in this statement. They tell us that it is typi- 
cal of the professing church's more direct course towards 
Rome. These different typical applications are often 
forced. After sailing slowly many days they reached a 
place called "the fair havens." Then they reached the 
island of Crete. The place Lasea has been geographi- 
cally located. But the name of the port was deceptive. 
"The fair havens" were far from peace and rest, but the 
place was exposed to the blasts of the winds. There are 
no fair havens of peace in this present evil age. The fair 
havens will only be reached when the Lord Jesus Christ 
returns. 

II. The Unheeded Warning. The Storm. Paul's Vision 
and Assurance of Safety. 

Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now 
dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admon- 
ished them, And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage 
will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and 
ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless the centurion believed 
the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things 
which were spoken by Paul. And because the haven was not 
commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence 
also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to 
winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south 
west and north west. And when the south wind blew softly, 
supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, 
they sailed close by Crete. But not long after there arose against 
it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. And when the ship 
was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. 
And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we 
had much work to come by the boat; Which when they had taken 
up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they 
should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. 
And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they 
lightened the ship; And the third day we cast out with our own 
hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars 
in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope 



414 



that we should be saved was then taken away. But after long 
abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, 
ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from 
Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort 
you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life 
among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night 
the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear 
not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar; and lo, God hath 
given thee all them that sailed with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of 
good cheer; for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told 
me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. (Verses 
9-26.) 

The late fall had been reached and navigation was then 
considered a hazardous thing. Nautical instruments were 
unknown, and other imperfect knowledge was a great draw- 
back to navigation at that time. Little sea trading was 
done during the late fall and less during the winter months. 
They waited till sailing had become dangerous. 

The fast mentioned which had passed was that of the 
Day of Atonement. Could we conclude from this statement 
that Paul and his companions kept the Day of Atonement 
by fasting? Some believe this, and that the Apostle con- 
tinued in all the observances of the ceremonial law and 
even the traditions of the elders. This is incorrect. It was 
customary to remember these different feasts and holidays 
simply for the sake of marking time. In this sense it is 
mentioned here. Most likely a consultation of the com- 
mander of the ship and the owner, who was on board, and 
the centurion, was held, and Paul was present. He gives 
them a solemn warning and cautions them to beware. This 
shows his close fellowship with the Lord. In prayer, no doubt, 
he had laid the whole matter before the Lord and received 
the answer, which he communicates to the persons in au- 
thority. They looked upon it as a mere guess and the cen- 
turion rather trusted in the judgment of the captain and the 
owner. 



415 



And here we can think of other warnings given through 
the great Apostle. Warnings concerning the spiritual dan- 
gers, the apostasy of the last days, the perilous times, warn- 
ings against the seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. 
The professing church has forgotten these divinely-given pre- 
dictions. The world does not heed them. Like these mar- 
iners, who believed in their own wisdom and disregarded the 
warning given, Christendom has paid no attention to these 
warnings. For this reason the ship is drifting, cast about 
by every wind of doctrine and rapidly nearing the long- 
predicted shipwreck. 

Their aim was to reach Phenice, another haven of Crete, 
to put up for the winter. All went well for a time, but sud- 
denly a terrific tempest arose. The hurricane which struck 
them was known by the name of Euroclydon. The ship 
was caught in the high seas and driven by the gale. A 
small island, Clauda, afforded a little shelter. A smaller 
boat was trailing behind and was now lifted on board. Helps 
had to be used to undergird the ship and keep it from going 
to pieces. Still greater danger was ahead. Large sandbanks 
were nearby. To prevent the stranding they took in the 
sail and were once more driven by the wind. All this 
reminds us of the many endeavors from the side of man to 
keep professing Christendom together. The power gone, 
because disobedient to the Lord and His word, things are 
drifting and all kinds of worldly means and helps are em- 
ployed to keep from sinking. Paul and his companions 
were conscious of the fact that they were in the hands of the 
Lord, who made the sea and at whose command the waves 
and the wind must obey. 

Their trouble had just begun. The next day a part of 
the cargo was cast from the ship to make it lighter. The 
third day the tackling of the ship followed. The wheat 
they still kept, for they had need of it. Later even that 
went (verse 38). Sun and stars were hidden for many days; 



416 



in despair, they abandoned all hope of salvation. Here we 
may think of the Satanic influences and power, typified 
by the continued wind, and of the periods of church history 
when indeed the sun and stars were hidden, when all tes- 
timony to Christ and testimony from the side of His people 
seemed to have ceased. 

When despair had reached its heights, Paul appears once 
more upon the scene. When all was hopeless the prisoner 
of the Lord spoke the words of hope and cheer. He reminds 
them first of their refusal and disobedience. What had 
came upon them was the result of having not heeded the 
warning. He then assures them that an angel of God had 
assured him once more that he would have to stand before 
Caesar; but God had given to him all that sail with him. 
Only the ship is to go down, the lives of all who sail with 
him will be preserved. "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer; 
for I believe God, that it shall be even so as it hath been 
spoken unto me." And now they were willing to listen 
to him. They had to acknowledge their disobedience and 
believe the message of cheer as it came from the divinely 
instructed messenger, assuring them of their ultimate sal- 
vation. 

And so, at least, in part, drifting Christendom can listen 
to the Apostle Paul, and if the mistake, the wrong course, 
is acknowledged, the heavenly-sent message is accepted, 
salvation is assured. 

II. The Shipwreck. 

But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven 
up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed 
that they drew near to some country; And sounded, and found 
it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they 
sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. Then fearing lest 
we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of 
the stern, and wished for the day. And as the shipmen were 
about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat 



417 



into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors 
out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, 
Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Then the 
soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. And 
while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take 
meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried 
and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I 
pray you to take some meat; for this is for your health: for there 
shall not a hair fall from the head of any of you. And when he 
had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence 
of them all; and when he had broken it, he began to eat. Then 
were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat. And we 
were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. 
And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and 
cast out the wheat into the sea. And when it was day, they knew 
not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, 
into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust 
in the ship. And when they had taken up the anchors, they com- 
mitted themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and 
hoisted up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. And 
falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; 
and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the 
hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. And 
the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them 
should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to 
save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they 
which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to 
land: And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken -pieces of 
the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to 
land (Verses 27-44.) 

How calm the Apostle and his companions must have 
been after this assurance of their safety. The dreadful 
wind might continue and the ship drift still further. They 
knew they were safe, for God had spoken. Different it 
was with the crew of the ship. In great distress they feared 
the coming disaster and cast out four anchors. The shipmen 
attempted flight by a clever scheme. Paul discovered their 
plan and said to the Centurion and soldiers, "Except these 
abide in the ship, ye (not we) cannot be saved," God had 



418 

given him all who were in the ship. The work of the sailors 
was needed when the daybreak came. And the soldiers 
believed the word of Paul, for they cut the ropes, which set 
the boat adrift the sailors tried to use. Then Paul exhorted 
them to eat. Once more he assured them that not a hair 
should fall from the head of any one. Before the whole 
company, two hundred and seventy-six persons, Paul took 
bread and gave thanks to God. The Lord had exalted the 
prisoner and he really stands out as the leader of the dis- 
tressed company. They all became encouraged by the words 
and action. All has its lessons. However the meal has 
nothing to do with the Lord's Supper. It tells us typically 
how necessary it is that we must feed on the bread of 
life in the days of danger, the times when everything 
breaks up. 

The details of the account we do not need to follow. The 
soldiers suggested the killing of the prisoners. The soldiers 
were responsible for every prisoner with their lives. If some 
were to escape they would be killed for the neglect. So for 
this selfish reason they would have killed each prisoner. 
The Centurion kept them from carrying out this evil pur- 
pose. And when the ship went to pieces all escaped safe to 
land. God was faithful to His promise. God saved, though 
the ship went into pieces. Even so God is faithful to His 
promise and all who trust in His ever-blessed Son are saved 
and safe, and none of them can be lost. The ship, professing 
Christendom, is breaking up and the ship cannot save. 

The story of the journey towards Rome and the ship- 
wreck reveals the acts of the adversary once more. No 
doubt he would have prevented the Apostle from reaching 
Rome in fulfillment of the Lord's word and plan. The 
last attempt was through the soldiers. But none can frus- 
trate God's purposes. Happy are we if we learn that all 
rests in His hands whose love will never fail and whose 
power can never diminish. The winds of trial and adversity. 



419 



the schemes of man knd assaults of the enemy ftiust help 
together in the fulfillment of His own councils. Yea, all 
things must work together for good to them that love God. 
The next chapter brings us to the end of the journey and to 
Rome itself. 



420 



' CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The final stage of the journey to Rome, the Apostle's 
arrival there and a brief account of how he called the Jews 
together in a meeting and delivered them an important 
message, form the ending of this book. 

I. In the Island of Melita (Verses 1-10). 

II. The arrival in Rome (Verses 11-16). 

III. Paul calling the chief of the Jews and his message 
(Verses 17-29). 

IV. The Apostle's activity in Rome (Verses 30-31). 

I. In the Island of Melita. 

And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island 
was called Melita. And the barbarous people shewed us no 
little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every 
one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And 
when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on 
the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his 
hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang 
on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man 
is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet ven- 
geance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into 
the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should 
have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had 
looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed 
their minds, and said that he was a god. In the same quarters 
were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was 
Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. 
And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever 
and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and 
laid his hands on him, and healed him. So when this was done, 
others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were 
healed. Who also honoured us with many honours; and when 



421 



we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary. 
(Verses 1-10.) 

Melita, which means "honey," is the island of Malta. 
It was even then a prominent place for navigation where 
many vessels wintered. Luke calls the inhabitants Bar- 
barians, a term used by the Greeks for all peoples who did 
not speak their language. The wrecked company was not 
plundered by the people of the island, but instead received 
much kindness and were made comfortable in the cold rain 
which fell. Those who apply all this in an allegorical way, 
find much meaning in this.* 

It was God who moved the hearts of these islanders to 
show such hospitality to the shipwrecked company for the 
sake of His servants. Paul is active even then. The ship- 
wreck and privations must have told on the great man of 
God physically, yet we see him going about gathering a 
bundle of sticks for the fire. This labor must have been 
difficult, since as a prisoner he wore a chain on his hands. A 
viper, which had been benumbed by the cold and revived 
by the heat of the fire, fastened on his hand. The serpent 
did him no harm and he cast it into the fire, where it found 
a miserable end. We doubt not it was a poisonous viper. 
This is denied by some critics on the plea that poisonous 
snakes are not found in the island of Malta. However, that 
is no proof that such did not exist at that time. The inhab- 
itants of the island expected Paul to fall dead. If it had 
been a harmless snake, why such an expectation? God's 

*The shipwreck is often applied allegorically to the wrecking of 
Christianity by the world under Constantine the Great and in the 
name of Melita (Honey) they see an indication that the professing 
church supposed then to have reached " the land which flows with 
milk and honey." But so many other allegorical meanings, many of 
them forced, are made, that we do not consider such applications at 
all. The primary meaning of the account is to give us the history of 
how Paul reached Rome. 



422 



power was manifested in his behalf; it was unquestion- 
ably a fulfillment of the promise in Mark xvi:18, "they shall 
take up serpents . . . and it shall not hurt them." How 
Satan tried to hinder Paul from reaching Rome; how he 
attempted to oppose God's will and God's plan! By the 
murderous Jews, by the storms of the sea, the suggestion of 
the soldiers to kill the prisoners, and now by the viper 
Satan tried to frustrate the Lord's plan. But God kept His 
servant and no harm could come to him. In the same keep- 
ing all His people rest. We are safe under Him, our omni- 
potent Lord. 

The viper which fastened on Paul's hand reminds us 
of Satan, that old serpent. He is a conquered enemy. He 
attacks us, he will fasten on us wherever he can; we are 
told to resist the devil and he will have to flee from us. 
In a believing, conscious union with Christ, all his attacks 
will prove harmless, till at last Satan shall be bruised under 
our feet and the serpent will be cast into the Lake of Fire. 

Then there was a manifestation of the gracious power of 
the Lord towards the inhabitants of the island. Publius, 
the chief man of the island, had shown also much kindness 
to the apostle and his companions. The father of Publius 
was severely sick; Paul visited him and after prayer and 
the laying on of hands he was healed. As this became 
known, others who were afflicted with diseases came and 
were healed. The Lord honored His servant and did good 
to those, who had shown kindness to His own. Along with 
the healing of diseases, the Apostle must have preached 
the blessed Gospel. 

II. The Arrival in Rome. 

And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, 
which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. 
And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. And from 
thence we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium: and after 



423 



One day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli: 
Where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them 
seven days: and so we went toward Rome. And from thence, 
when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as 
Appii Forum, and the Three Taverns; whom when Paul saw, he 
thanked God, and took courage. And when we came to Rome, 
the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: 
but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that 
kept him. (Verses 11-16.) 

Three months had gone by — the winter months, during 
which navigation was at a standstill. An Alexandrian ves- 
sel, which had wintered in the safe harbor of Melita, carried 
the company towards their destination, Puteoli, the harbor 
of Rome. This was in the early part of Spring. After land- 
ing at Syracuse (Sicily), and tarrying there for three days, 
they reached Rhegium, in the straits of Messina, and the 
next day they came to Puteoli, in the Bay of Naples, almost 
one hundred and forty miles from the city of Rome. In 
Puteoli, where a large Jewish colony was situated, they found 
brethren, who entreated them to stop with them for a week. 
What an oasis of blessing this must have been for the wearied 
and tired servants of the Lord! One would almost wish it 
would have pleased the Holy Spirit to give us a fuller account 
of the blessed fellowship they must have enjoyed together. 
And so they came to Rome. The brethren in Rome knew 
in some way of their coming. They came to meet them as 
far as Appii Forum and the Three Taverns. Most likely 
two different companies of brethren are indicated. The first 
company met them at Appii Forum, some forty miles from 
Rome, and the second company at the Three Taverns, some 
ten miles further on. The news of the Apostle's coming 
must have been conveyed to Rome from Puteoli. Perhaps 
the two companies represented the Jewish believers and the 
Gentile Christians, of which the church in Rome was com- 
posed. With what anticipation they must have looked for- 
ward to seeing the Apostle, whose face they had never seen. 



424 



His blessed epistle addressed to the Saints of God in Rome, 
the Beloved of God, had been in their possession for a 
number of years and had brought untold blessings to their 
souls. How often they must have read his words, in the 
beginning of his letter: "I long to see you, that I may im- 
part unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be 
established; that is, that I may be comforted together with 
you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now, I would 
not have you ignorant, brethren, that ofttimes I proposed to 
come unto you (but was hindered hitherto),. that I might 
have some fruit among you also, even as the rest of the Gen- 
tiles" (Rom. i:ll-13). He had never been in Rome. The 
Roman assembly was not founded by Paul and certainly 
• not by Peter. The origin of that church is obscure ^and 
the Holy Spirit has not given us a history of the beginning 
of the church in Rome. And now he whom they all loved, 
whose face they longed to see, was actually on the way 
to visit Rome. But in a far different way did he come 
than he expected when he wrote his Epistle. He came as 
the prisoner of the Lord. What a meeting it must have 
been! 

The record tells us that when Paul saw these beloved 
brethren, who had shown such love to him by meeting 
him on the way to accompany him to Rome, that he thanked 
God and took courage. It is evident that he must have 
been cast down and depressed in his spirit. How many 
questions must have been upon his mind! Perhaps anxiety 
concerning the assembly in Rome also weighed upon him 
He faced difficulties on all sides. But when he saw the 
brethren and the evidences of their love, the cloud passed 
and he thanked God and took courage. Anew he cast 
himself on the Lord, whose faithfulness and power had been 
so marked in his experience. There is no better way to 
meet all depression, anxious feeling, difficulties and ob- 
stacles, than the way of thanking God and taking courage, 



425 



which means, confidence in the Lord. After leaving the 
Three Taverns, the great Appian Way led them for thirty 
miles across the Campagna to the great city, the city of 
power, the mistress of the world, the city of the seven hills 
the mystical Babylon. In Rome at last. What emotions 
must have filled the hearts of Paul, Luke and Aristarchus 
when they entered Rome! It is written in Genesis xii:5, 
"and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and 
into the land of Canaan they came." They went forth 
to go to Rome and to Rome they came. The Lord had 
brought them safely to their destination. 

Julius then delivered the prisoners to his official superior. 
But Paul is not in the hands of the Romans, but in the 
hands of the Lord. He guards him. He was permitted 
to dwell in his own house with a soldier alongside of him 

III. Paul calling the chief of the Jews and his message. 

And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief 
of the Jews together; and when they were come together, he 
said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed 
nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was 
I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans: 
Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because 
there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spake 
against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I 
had aught to accuse my nation of. For this cause therefore 
have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because 
that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. And 
they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judea 
concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed 
or spake any harm of thee. But we desire to hear of thee what 
thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every 
where it is spoken against. And when they had appointed him a day, 
there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded 
and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning 
Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from 
morning till evening. And some believed the things which were 
spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not 



426 



among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spokeri 
one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto 
our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye 
shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, 
and not perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed gross, 
and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; 
lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and 
understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should 
heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation 
of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. And 
when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great 
reasoning among themselves. (Verses 17-29.) 

And now it is for the very last time in this book "to 
the Jew first." The first service the great Apostle ren- 
dered in Rome was not in the assembly, but he called the 
chief of the Jews together. He knew no bitterness in 
his heart against the Jews. In writing the letter to the 
Romans he had written, "I say the truth in Christ, I lie 
not, my conscience also testifying with me in the Holy Spirit, 
that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my 
heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from 
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh" 
(Rom. ix:l-2). "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer 
to God for them is, that they might be saved" (x:l). And 
now, after all the sad experience he had made, the treat- 
ment he had received from his kinsmen, after he had found 
out their malice and deep hatred, the same love burns 
in his heart and the same yearning for their salvation pos- 
sesses him. In Rome he manifests first of all his loving 
interest in his Jewish brethren. To these leading Jews he 
testified once more that he was innocent of any wrong 
doing. Briefly, he rehearsed his whole case and why he had 
been compelled to appeal to Caesar. For this purpose — 
' to talk to them about this matter — he had called them. 
Then most likely he must have lifted his hands, from which 
the prisoner's chain dangled, and said, "because for the 



427 



hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. " The Jews, 
however, wanted to hear more from his lips of — "what thou 
thinkest; for as concerning this sect, we know that every- 
where it is spoken against." They knew he believed in 
Christ. 

A great meeting took place a short time later. Many 
Jews assembled in Paul's lodging. The meeting lasted 
from morning till evening. Once more he testified the 
Kingdom of God to a large company of Jews. He also 
persuaded them concerning Jesus both out of the laws 
of Moses and out of the Prophets. What a wonderful 
message must have came from his lips as he unfolded the 
prophetic testimony concerning the Messiah in the power 
of the Spirit of God! But what was the result? Some 
believed and some believed not. They did not agree amongst 
themselves. The end of God's gracious way with the 
Jews is reached. We repeat for the last time, it was to 
the Jew first. The final crisis is reached. Judgment 
must now be executed upon the nation and the blindness 
is now to come, which has lasted so long and will con- 
tinue till the fullness of the Gentiles is come in (Rom. 
xi:26). Stephen, whose death young Saul had witnessed 
and approved (viii:l), had pronounced judgment upon 
the nation, in Jerusalem. God's mercy had still waited. 
Marvelous Grace, which took up the young Pharisee, 
Saul, and made him the Apostle to the Gentiles! Through 
him, the chosen instrument, the Lord still sought his be- 
loved Israel, even after Jerusalem had so completely re- 
jected the offered mercy. We have seen how the Apostle's 
intense love for his brethren had led him back to Jerusalem, 
though warned repeatedly by the Holy Spirit. And now he 
is used to give the very last message to the Jews and speak 
the final word of condemnation. 

It is interesting to see how the Spirit of God quotes 
through the Apostle the message of judgment, which was 



428 



given to Isaiah over 700 years before. How long-sufTering 
God is. What infinite patience and mercy He manifested 
in dealing with Israel. Isaiah had announced the hardening 
judgment, and God waited 700 years before it was finally 
accomplished. Twice before these words from Isaiah 
vi are mentioned in the New Testament. In Matthew 
xiii:14-15, they are spoken by our Lord after the people 
had rejected Him and the Pharisees had charged him with 
driving out the demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. 
They rejected Him, whom the Father had sent. Again, 
we find the Lord making use of these words at another 
occasion. In John xii:37-41, they are applied after the 
full rejection of the Son Himself and His testimony. Here 
in our passage they are used for the last time. The re- 
jection is now complete and the result is the threatened 
blindness rests upon the nation. But we must not forget 
that the Spirit of God had announced all this in the Epistle 
to the Romans. The eleventh chapter unfolds the Jewish 
question and assures us that in spite of all this, the blind- 
ness of Israel is not permanent. God has not cast away 
this people, whom He, foreknew. He will yet bring the 
remnant to Himself and forgive them their sins. God's 
gifts and calling are without repentance. 

Paul then announced that the salvation of God is sent 
unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it. This marks the 
larger beginning of the world-wide proclamation of the 
Salvation of God among the Gentile races. And what a 
blessed description of the Gospel we have here, "the Sali- 
vation of God"! This still continues. God takes out 
from the Gentiles a people for His name. Blessed be 
God for the preaching of the Gospel in regions beyond, 
and for the blessed members which are added to His body, 
the church, in Korea, China, India and elsewhere. But 
the offer of the Salvation of God to the Gentiles will like- 
wise close. Romans xi: 18-22 contains the solemn message, 



429 



One of the great forgotten messages of the Bible. Boasting 
Gentile Christendom will some day be cut off and the 
broken off branches will be grafted in again into their good 
olive tree. The apostasy of Christendom, the wicked 
rejection of the Person of Christ, the constant and ever 
increasing perversion of the Gospel of God are sure signs 
that a change of dispensations is imminent. 

IV. The Apostle's Activity in Rome. 

And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and 
received all that came in unto him. Preaching the kingdom of 
God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus 
Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him. (Verses 
30-31.) 

A prisoner in Rome and yet active. He preached the 
Kingdom of God (not of heaven, the Jewish, earthly aspect 
of it), and ever speaking of that worthy name, that blessed 
and adorable Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The ending 
of the book is sad and it is joyous. Sad to see the great 
Apostle a prisoner, shut up in Rome with his God-given 
Gospel. Joyous because the last verse mentions the Lord 
Jesus Christ and an unhindered ministry of the Gospel. 
The Book begins with Jerusalem and ends with Rome. 
It is a prophecy of the course of the professing church. 
The book closes in an unfinished way, because the acts of 
Christ, the Spirit of God, and Satan, recorded in this book, 
are not finished. We hear nothing more of Paul, though 
we know that from the prison the Holy Spirit of God sent 
forth through him the blessed Epistles, in which He has 
been pleased to give us the highest revelation. And how 
much more might be written on all this! 



THE END. 



JAN 4 1913 



6 

K C-96 



1 



